Today's readings are 1 Samuel 31.1-13 and 1 Corinthians 7.1-24.
In today's Old Testament reading we see that Saul has fallen. He has not died without honor. In fact, Saul was a fairly good king, with a forty year reign. Yet in the face of the Philistines, driven on by the God of Israel who was bringing judgment on Saul, he and his forces were soundly defeated. The land was overrun by these enemies who promptly set up plunder as tokens in the temple of their false gods.
The part of this story we are not told today is that by removing Saul, God has prepared the way for his new king, the one he has anointed as a faithful leader of Israel. Though it seems like a defeat, God counts this in some ways as a victory. He is going to bring judgment on the Philistines and again establish his people Israel in their land of promise.
We can look at history and find countless times that God's people seemed to be defeated. Yet time and again God has used these times of apparent defeat to cleanse his people, to equip them for further faithful service. May he use our times of apparent defeat in the same way.
In today's Old Testament reading we see that Saul has fallen. He has not died without honor. In fact, Saul was a fairly good king, with a forty year reign. Yet in the face of the Philistines, driven on by the God of Israel who was bringing judgment on Saul, he and his forces were soundly defeated. The land was overrun by these enemies who promptly set up plunder as tokens in the temple of their false gods.
The part of this story we are not told today is that by removing Saul, God has prepared the way for his new king, the one he has anointed as a faithful leader of Israel. Though it seems like a defeat, God counts this in some ways as a victory. He is going to bring judgment on the Philistines and again establish his people Israel in their land of promise.
We can look at history and find countless times that God's people seemed to be defeated. Yet time and again God has used these times of apparent defeat to cleanse his people, to equip them for further faithful service. May he use our times of apparent defeat in the same way.
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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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