Second Bible Read Thread

hi (this is NurseAbigail *whispers) lol, been missing this thread and I think this is a great Bible Reading accountability thing going on here so I decided to make a diff account and to post solely on this thread alone. I really like the discussions going on.

I listened to a commentary recently about this, the teacher said the big difference between David and Saul was that David was a pleaser of God and Saul was a pleaser of men, hence his great jealousy toward David.

It makes me wonder, why as humans envy is one of the sins that can be a stronghold...in fact it is one if the 10 commandments...

17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. Exodus 20:17 KJV

I think the moment a person gets farther away from God especially by constant disobedience, their spiritual senses become numb to the point that their actions become irrational, such as Saul's case to the point that he almost murdered Jonathan...interestingly that chapter reminded me of Cain and Abel, it was sort of similar...Saul, like Cain knew what God wanted, but did not do what they were supposed to do and in turn lost favor from God and went into a downward spiral of covetousness to those who actually follow God's instructions.

Geez, I think this is something, us Christians must pray against, that God always check our hearts for any hints of envy and to vigilant to pray protection from. There are many envious people out there!

So intense! David lived a very stressful life indeed seemed like it. He is a very skilled warrior (ninja lol). And Saul is just unbelievable, can't believe he committed mass murder on God's priests. Lol sometimes I can't believe stuff like that is in the Bible, but there it is, the reality of evil. Here, we see David's closeness to God though...how despite he was just inches from perhaps slitting Saul's throat, but he chose not to. Reminds me of something my mom told me today, had a horrible shift at work and I vented out to her, but she mentioned to me that it might be a testing of my character...God tests us and the Devil tempts us...she said something that oddly the hebrew word for test and tempt were the same.
David's character here was tested, and he passed the test.

SarahsKnight said:

Day 105: May 13

Psalms 56
Psalms 120
Psalms 140
Psalms 141
Psalms 142

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I'm gonna catch up reading, lols got home last night from work and felt like i was dying, vomitted, nausea, pounding headache, shift was crazy! Headed to work now, but read psalm 56, really beautiful how David's relationship with God is, i like the part where he talks about God keeping tears in bottles. Despite the hell he is going through, David still praises God and his view about him did not change. It's a challenge for all of us, does our viewpoint of God change based on circumstances? Will we still see Him as praiseworthy even if all hell breaks loose in our lives? What if God does not save us from the fiery furnace? Is our relationship with Him strongly grounded?

I'm kinda late on the readings...but here goes lol...

Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, and let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for Jehovah. Psalm 27:14

This passage really spoke to me. The process of waiting is a funny one. No one wants to wait. Kids can't wait to grow up. Adults can't wait to get married. Middle aged people can't wait to retire. It's as if no one wants to live at the moment. God, give me what I want and I want it now! But what if He wants us to wait longer? What if you have to stay at that job you hate for a couple more years? What if the pain won't go away just yet?

Psalm 31:12
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

Lol don't we all feel this way when life gets rough. It's comforting to know that you're not the only one who feels these emotions. David, himself, a King, a warrior, in his breaking point, confessed, if I could put it to 21st century lingo would sound like this, "I feel like I'm going crazy."

Psalm 141:3
Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; Keep the door of my lips.

There's power in the words we say. Even in the way things are said can impact emotions and atmospheres. I think this is one of the hardest disciplines in attaining a powerful walk with God. It can be so difficult to control the tongue. It's so easy to use curse words, and negative words flow out like niagara falls compared to saying words of faith and hope. I'm guilty of this many times. But here David is showing us the secret to overcome...set a watch...be aware of the words that we say.

Psalm 142
David basically experienced homelessness and being friendless. He was cave hopping, the stress of it all brought him closer to God. Through all his predicament, it's frustrating, because David did nothing wrong. Saul was soulishly jealous of him. Life can be like this sometimes, where the enemy accuses you through someone who is envious of your success. How can one keep sane after all these? Unless there is One who looks after you, One who knows what really is happening. So no matter what, take courage, help is on the way.

1st Samuel 25-27
Ah....an intersting case of dying from a stroke. Drink in moderation!

Abigail was no ordinary lady, it seems as if she was well versed with the customs of her time, she was also smart and quick to think. Unfortunately, she was married to a rich hot headed, cruel man, maybe she had no say on it because back then it's the parents who matchmake. Made me wonder, what would have happened if she didn't make a move, everyone including her would've had died. I think that during that time, nations are being born, it's either kill or be killed or chose which side you can rub shoulders with and live. That's the nature of a fallen system. The moment humanity decides to rule on their own terms. Everyone has their own agenda, their own viewpoints of how to handle a situation, the question boils down to who has the right one?

SarahsKnight said:

Day 107: May 15

Psalms 17
Psalms 35
Psalms 54
Psalms 63

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Psalm 35:28 And my tongue shall talk of thy righteousness [And] of thy praise all the day long.

Wow, David really loves God. Isn't it that when we are in love with someone, we would talk about that person nonstop and it would only be words of praise most times...what if this is how we approach our relationship with God, instead of complaints, we look for His righteous acts, His generosities and blessings afterall there is no other being on earth who possess great love and care for us all but Him.
Psalm 63
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, [And] meditate on thee in the night-watches.

Heh, I wish I were more like David, I'm sure it's not only me but many of us, during late nights we ponder about life and whatever happened during the day, mostly meaningless mind chatter, for me I tend to overthink and overanalyze things leading me to worry. But this verse here, David "remembers" and "meditates" on God's goodness. It's quite true, if we take the time to do this every night (and day), our spirit will be rejuvinated and restored rather than bogged down. There is power in thoughts and words. It amazing how things that are not visible can have so much power. Despite all the hoopla David is going through, he takes time to acknowledge God's sovereignty and goodness. When we draw near to God, He draws near to us.

SarahsKnight said:

Day 108: May 16

1 Samuel 28 through 31

Psalms 18

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1st Samuel 28.

Something was off with Saul. Notice in verse 3, it said Samuel was dead…and during that time Saul got rid of all those who practiced sorcery, witchcraft from the land. It was only then that he did this, meaning he has been allowing such practices in the land. How can God communicate to someone who sides with the communication portal of the enemy? Anyways, eventually, Saul took matters once again into his own hands, and sought out a woman with a familiar spirit, the spirit came in the form of Samuel, highly doubt it was Samuel, evil spirits can mimic dead people. He basically, gave the demon world, authority to speak death to his life. Think about it, had he just humbled himself before God, maybe sought out the other prophets, and followed God’s orders, things would’ve probably turned out different. Saul just seems so one tracked minded, he wants what he wants and gets what he wants to get. It’s a scary lesson for us all, it can be tempting sometimes to look for answers other than God’s Word and from God Himself. As a follower of God, anything that is outside of the Word, like witchcraft is of the enemy. Satan and his minions have been in the earth for centuries, they know how gullible we are. Anything flashy will catch our attention, anything quick will grab hold of us. But in God’s Kingdom, patience is key, humility is virtue, and obedience draws God’s favor. Anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and mocks the Word, is something we, as Christians, should never dabble with. Guard your heart always.



1 Samuel 29

Hrrmmm…even David found favor in the eyes of the Philistines, I’m kinda confused by it though, why he teamed up with the guy Achish. But I have a feeling that had David been permitted/able to go to battle with them, he probably would have been able to protect Jonathan and defend Saul. Did this have something to do with the curse from whence Saul sought the medium? Hmmmmmmmm….lol



1 Samuel 30

6.And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God.

I’ve noticed that David knew how to encourage himself. I think that is a good attitude/discipline to have. When hard times come, and no one in sight is present to give you a pat in the back or to comfort you, sometimes you got to “strengthen” yourself, but the key here is not just through positivity, he drew his strength from God. And eventually, he regained strength to fight back and rescued what was taken from him and his men.

When I think about David, hands down, if the guy ends up with a diagnosis of depression and PTSD, I’d be like, “it makes sense, all the crap his been through”, and yet his psych is intact (although, he did vent out a lot in the Psalms lol). He was still able to be a leader and be faithful to God. This makes me think hard of our times now, we don’t have the same stressful situations our ancestors had. We don’t have to struggle to look for water, no need to worry about raiders attacking villages, etc… and yet there is a high rate of depression, suicide, and drug abuse. Maybe comfortable living isn’t humanity’s purpose, because if it is, then why so many still feel empty. It all really goes back to doing God’s will, and knowing your purpose in Him.



1st Samuel 31

Gaaaah, very sad to read…Saul and his 3 sons die in battle, (except for Saul who kills himself). Really heartbreaking that Jonathan died. Geez, it’s like, how can David get over this, it’s like unending stress for this dude. Now his best friend forever is gone. I really wonder how things would have turned out had Saul humbled himself before God. He really had no excuse. Why seek out a medium, when there are other prophets in the land, Saul could’ve inquired of them and just humbly asked, “What must I do, to hear God’s voice again?” But at this point in time, he allowed his pride to take over him, maybe he already knew what God wanted of him, and yet he refused to act. Sometimes, in life, we can be like Saul, we kinda know the things that hinder us from God, but we try to circumnavigate around it, and test God’s patience. Until eventually our hearts become numb and can no longer hear His small still voice, because we wanted to hear what we want to hear. It’s really important to always ask God to “search our hearts” and always remember “obedience is better than sacrifice”.