True exile is alienation from God

Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Devotions:  Ps 37; 1Sam 20:24-42; Acts 13:1-12; Mk 2:23-3:6

Don't fret over evildoers; they will wither and fade like dry grass.  Trust in YHWH and do His best; live where He puts you, and trust Him for all you need.  Delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desire.  He will conduct you through a mortal life and into life eternal.  He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, and your justice like noonday sun.  Keep still before Him; be patient, and leave matters in God's hands.  Don't waste life in anger or vengefulness; God is Judge, and both holy and merciful.  Soon, the wicked who trouble you will be gone forever.  Those who bow to YHWH will win in the end.  Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked!  God upholds the righteous.  They will not be ashamed.  They can afford generosity, for we cannot outgive our God.  Our paths are directed by YHWH; He strengthens and upholds us.  I was young; now I'm old; but I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.  Turn from evil; do all the good you can.  God will not forsake His faithful ones.  Let His wisdom permeate your minds and bodies; pay attention to God and His righteous servants.  Deliverance is of the Lord; seek refuge in Him, and dwell in utter security!

David and Saul were struggling, and Saul, troubled by an evil spirit, had tried to destroy his young rival.  David and Jonathan devised a plan to discern Saul's intentions toward David, and discovered that the king intended to kill David.  Saul even threw a spear at his son and heir Jonathan when the youth questioned his father's intentions toward David.  So Jonathan reported to David as they had arranged.  The two dear friends pledged their mutual faith and commitment to YHWH as their Lord forever.  And David departed into exile.

The Christian church in Antioch was blessed with exceptional prophets and teachers; while they were fasting and worshiping, the Holy Spirit directed the assembly to set aside Barnabas and Saul for God's work.  After fasting, praying, and laying on of hands, the church sent the two men off.  They traveled through Seleucia, across Cyprus from Salamis to Paphos.  There, they encountered Sergius Paulus, the Roman proconsult, and a Jewish magician and false prophet called Bar-Jesus.  Sergius summoned Barnabas and Saul to hear from them God's words.  But the magician, also called Elymas, opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the truth.  But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at Elymas and said, 'You son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, full of villainy and deceit, will you not cease making crooked the Lord's straight paths?  Now listen: the Lord's hand is against you, and you will become blind for a while, unable to see the sun.'  And the magician fell blind, overcome by mist and darkness, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand.  When the proconsul witnessed this, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

One Sabbath, Jesus and His disciples were going through cornfields; and the disciples were plucking and eating grain as they walked.  Pharisees objected to Jesus: 'Look at this!  Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?'  Jesus repolied, 'Have you never read what David did when he and his companions in exile were hungry and needed food?  He entered God's house, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which is lawful only for priests to consume; and David gave some to his companions as well.  The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath.'  Another time, Jesus entered a synagogue, where a man with a withered hand was among the assembly.  Jesus's critics waited to see what He would do about this man and his affliction; they hoped He would violate their Sabbath traditions by healing the man.  Jesus called the man, 'Come forward!'  And He said to His critics, 'Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath--to save life, or to kill?'  They didn't answer.  Jesus looked them over in anger, grieved by their hardness of heart.  Then He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.'  The man did so, an dimmediately his hand was restored.  The Pharisees went out of the synagogue and immediately conspired with the Herodians against Jesus, considering how they might destroy Him.