Proceeding with God

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post, dated November 12, 2008, in the archives, where I introduce myself and the blog.

Friday, July 17, 2009
Devotions: Ps 31, 35; 1 Sam 21:1-15; Acts 13:13-25; Mk 3:7-19a

God, You are my Rock, my Fortress. Deliver me from shame and the traps, invisible to me, that enemies lay in my path. I commit my spirit into Your hands, my Redeemer and faithful God! I will rejoice and trust in Your love. I know I am weak; it’s been a constant struggle, and I’m depleted. But I trust in You, YHWH; let Your face shine upon Your servant; hide me under Your wing. I praise the Lord, Who has wondrously shown His love for me. Be strong and take courage, all who wait for the Lord! YHWH, I pray You will content for all who contend with me. Put my enemies to shame. There is none like You, Lord, Who deliver the weak and protect us. I will praise You in the great assembly. Vindicate me, O Lord, according to Your goodness and the righteousness of my Lord Jesus. Put to shame those who rejoice at my hardships. Great is YHWH, Who delights in the welfare of His servant! I will praise You all the day long.

As he fled from Saul, David came to Nob, to the priest Ahimelech. The priest questioned why David appeared there, alone. (Actually, David was accompanied by a small force of supporters.) David asked for food, but there was none except the bread of the Presence, consecrated to YHWH. The priest said David and his party could have the bread if they were themselves ritually clean; David affirmed this, and Ahimelech gave him the showbread. Doeg of Edom, one of Saul’s herdsmen, was in the shrine, witnessing all this. David also asked the priest for a spear or sword. The priest had only the sword of Goliath, whom David had slain, and David gladly took it. He and his party escaped and sought refuge with the king of Gath, Achish. But when the courtiers identified David as the mighty slayer of tens of thousands, he became afraid and feigned madness before the king, who refused to receive the apparent lunatic into his household. So David escaped another hostile ruler.

Paul and his company departed from Paphos, and arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. There, John Mark left Paul and Barnabas and returned to Jerusalem, while the apostle continued to Antioch of Pisidia. There, they were invited to speak in the synagogue, and Paul addressed them: ‘Men of Israel and those who fear God, hear me: Israel’s God chose our fathers and increased them even in their Egyptian captivity. He bore with them forty years in the wilderness, then cleared out seven Gentile nations before them as He brought them into Canaan. Thereafter, God provided judges to lead Israel until they demanded a king from the prophet Samuel; God gave them Saul of Kish for forty years; then God raised up David as king. God called David “a man after My heart who will do all My will.” From David’s line, God has brought Israel a Savior, Jesus, just a God promised. Before Jesus’ advent, John had preached a baptism of repentance to all Israel’s people. And as John completed his mission, he said, “I am not the One who is to come; but He is near, Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”’

Jesus led His close disciples to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and a great multitude followed Him, from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, and from Idumea, Trans-Jordan, Tyre and Sidon. He told the disciples to prepare a boat, lest the crowd crush Him, as they pressed forward for healing. Whenever evil spirits beheld Him, they cast down the persons they possessed and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But He strictly ordered them not to make Him known. Jesus ascended a mountain, and called to Him those He had chosen. He appointed twelve as apostles, to be with Him and to go forth from Him to preach and cast out demons: Simon Peter, James and John—sons of Zebedee, and called by Jesus “sons of thunder”—as well as Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James bar-Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon of Canaan, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus.