Take root, bear fruit

Monday, July 22
Devotions: Ps 41, 44, 52; 1 Sam 24:1-22; Acts 13:44-52; Mk 4:1-20

Blessed are all who consider the poor; the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble; He protects them and keeps them alive. Those God favors are known by God's people to be blessed. And God cares for them when they fall sick. And I know that I am poor, Lord. I pray: be gracious to me and heal me, for I have sinned against You. I am hated by the ungodly and judged by the pious. I can't trust even friends among the mortals, Lord. But I know that You have not deserted me, for I still live and I am still standing. Enemies have not destroyed me; You have sustained me in Your integrity. Blessed is YHWH, my God and Israel's God, for ever and ever. Amen! I have read and pondered God's great deeds in times past—how God created all that is; how He chose and set aside a people and a land for Himself. Lord, You Are my God and King, and I have victory by Your hand and Your sovereign will. Like my Lord Jesus, I have experienced downward mobility, and I accept all that comes upon me. So I look for Your deliverance and Your victory, my Lord. Rise up and set the world right, I pray. Deliver Your people because of Your steadfast love. Let God bring the arrogant to judgment. And let me abide like a green olive tree in God's bower; Lord, I will thank You forever and proclaim You to the godly.

Following a tip, Saul took 3000 troops to the wilderness of En Gedi, pursuing David. It happened that Saul went into a cave to relieve himself—and it was the very place David and his closest supporters were concealed. David's men urged David to kill Saul and claim the throne. Instead, David stealthily sliced off a portion of Saul's robe—and even that caused David great qualms of conscience: 'YHWH forbid that I should put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed!' And he would not let his forces harm the king. Saul completed his business and left the cave. David followed him and from a distance hailed the king: 'Why do you listen to people who say David seeks your hurt? Look: God put you into my hands today, and some told me to kill you, but I refuse to put forth my hand against you, the Lord's anointed. My father, look here: this is the skirt of your robe I have in my hand; that I cut it off but didn't harm you should tell you there is no wrong or treason in my intent or conduct. I have not hurt you, though you're hunting me down to kill me. May YHWH judge between us, then; and let Him take vengeance, not I. The old proverb says, “Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness.” But my hand will not strike out at you. After whom do you pursue? A dead dog! A flea! Let YHWH be Judge and give sentence between you and me and carry it out, and deliver me from your hand.' Saul was touched: 'Is this your voice, my son David? Surely you are more righteous than I; you have given good and I have repaid with evil. So may YHWH reward you for your deeds and forbearance this day. I know that you will certainly become king, and Israel's kingdom will be established in your hand. Therefore, swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, nor destroy the name of my father's house.' David swore this to Saul, and Saul went home, while David and his men went up to their stronghold.

The pious of Pisidian Antioch had petitioned Saul and Barnabas to continue telling them God's good news, so on the next Sabbath, almost the entire city gathered to hear the word of God. When the local Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they contradicted what Paul said, and reviled him. But Paul and Barnabas declared boldly, 'It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you and thereby judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, watch now as we turn to the Gentiles. For that is what the Lord has commanded us, saying “I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.”' When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and all believed whom God had ordained to eternal life. And the Lord's gospel spread throughout that region. Meanwhile, the Jews incited devout women of high standing and the city's leading men, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of that district The apostles shook off the dust from their feet against their persecutors, and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus began to teach on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. A very large crowd gathered around Him, and Jesus got into a boat, and sat on it, just offshore, with the crowd before him on the land. He taught many things: 'Listen: a sower went out to sow. Some of the seed he cast fell along the path, and birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where the soil was shallow and scant; that seed sprang up quickly; but as the sun beat down, the tender shoots were scorched, and since they had no roots, they withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns choked it out, and it yielded no grain. And finally, some seed fell upon good soil, and brought forth grain, yielding thirty or sixty or one hundred times what was sown. Let whoever has ears, hear!' When Jesus was again alone with His twelve apostles, they asked Him to explain the parable of the sower, soils and seeds. Jesus replied, 'To you hass been given the secret of the kingdom of God; but for those outside, everything is in parables—so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should repent and be forgiven.' Jesus said, 'Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word; when those along the path hear, the satan comes and snatches away what was said. Likewise, those like rocky ground immediately hear and respond with joy; but they have no root in themselves, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, they immediately fall away and are lost. Those like thorny ground hear the message; but the cares and distractions of the world, not least their delight in worldly riches, enter in and choke out the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those like good soil hear the word, accept it and bear fruit: thirty or sixty or one hundredfold.'