Author: Tom

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1 Samuel: Lesson 26 — Listening For Protection

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 26 (Listening For Protection)
1 Samuel 23:1-29

The Text:

  1. Where are David and his men?  What news does David hear?  Who does he go to for direction?  What response does he get?  What response do David’s men have?
     
  2. What does David do in response to the concern of his men?  What is he told?  What do he and his men do?  How successful are they?
     
  3. What is Saul’s immediate reaction when he finds out David is at Keilah?  What does he do?  When David hears that Saul may be coming toward him, who does he go to for information?  What does he find out? 
     
  4. Because of what he learns, where does David escape to?  Who meets him there?  What is  his purpose?  What information does he share?   
     
  5. Who discloses David’s location to Saul this time around?  How does Saul respond?  What does he want to know?  As Saul and his army were closing in on David, what causes them to break off the pursuit?

              

The Application:

  1. What response do you usually have when you hear of someone in trouble?  How often do you ask God what you should do?  Are there times that you are skeptical of something a friend says God wants them to do? 
     
  2. When someone questions a course of action that you believe God wants you to do, how do you feel?  Would you be willing to go back to God and make sure you heard right, or would you be tempted to dig in your heels and do it just to prove you can?     
     
  3. When faced with a situation, good or bad, where the outcome appears to be a given, do you handle it with your own wisdom and ability based on what you see or do you ask God what you ought to do?      
     
  4. Who do  you know that you need to meet where they are and help them find strength in God?  How can you do that?  
     
  5. Does it ever feel like there is always someone trying to deliver you to the enemy?  How does it feel when God provides the way of escape — especially if the source is unexpected?

              

Next week: 1 Samuel 24:1-22
May The LORD Judge

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1 Samuel: Lesson 25 — The Cost of Integrity

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 25 (The Cost of Integrity)
1 Samuel 22:1-23

The Text:

  1. Where does David go after his time in Gath?  Who hears about it?  What do they do?  What is the common characteristic of the people who gather around David at this time?  What concern does David have?  How does he resolve it?
     
  2. Who hears about where David is?  What does he accuse his officials of?  How does he compare himself to David?  What does he have to say about Jonathan?
     
  3. Who speaks out?  What information does he give?  What does Saul do with that information?  What does he accuse the priests of doing? 
     
  4. How does the priest respond to Saul?  What does he say about David?  What does he say about his own actions?  Does the one give credibility to the other?  What is Saul’s response?  Are Saul’s guards and officials willing to carry out his order?  Who does?   
     
  5. What happens to Ahimelech and his family?  Who escaped?  Where did he go?  How did David feel and respond to the incident?

             

The Application:

  1. Have you ever felt a need to go into hiding?  Do you know someone who has retreated into hiding?  How could someone help you in such a time?  How can you help others in such a time?  How do you think it would feel to become the leader of the group that comes to David? 
     
  2. How does anger typically change the way you view people — even your most trusted friends and/or associates?  What is the danger of thinking everything revolves around you?     
     
  3. When someone is looking for information that you know will be used in a destructive manner, how tempting is it to share whatever you know so that you will appear more important than everyone else?     
       
  4. How does it feel to be accused of wrongdoing when you know what you did was right? 
       
  5. Have you ever had a time that someone else suffered on your behalf?  How does this make you feel?  How does it feel to suffer because of someone else?

             

Next week: 1 Samuel 23:1-29
Listening For Protection

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1 Samuel: Lesson 24 — He Did What!?!

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 24 (He Did What!?!)
1 Samuel 21:1-15

The Text:

  1. Where does David go?  What is the priest’s reaction when David shows up?  What reason does David give for being alone?  What does David want?
     
  2. What does the priest not have?  What bread does he have instead?  What do we know about this bread?  How does David respond to the requirements necessary for having this bread?  What does Jesus say about this incident (Matthew 12:1-13)?
     
  3. For future reference, who happens to be there with the priest while David is there?  What else does David request after the bread was given?  What is significant about the only such item available?
     
  4. Where does David go when he leaves the priest?  What do the people there say about him?  Is there anything that surprises you about what is not written?     
     
  5. How did David react to what the people were saying?  What effect did this have on the king and his desire to be near David?

            

The Application:

  1. How do people react when you show up?  Why do you think that is?  How do you feel about giving incomplete or misleading information to someone?  Are there times where that is appropriate? . . . inappropriate? 
     
  2. Are there things that you consider sacred that you wouldn’t give to just anyone?  How do you feel about sharing the things of God with others?  What do the words, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”, mean to you in this context?  How does Jesus apply this?     
     
  3. How aware are you of people watching you?  For what reasons would people be watching you?  Has God ever returned to you the use of something that you had devoted to Him?      
     
  4. What would the enemies of God say about you?  Do they even know you exist?  Do you think that what you might consider your greatest achievement is necessarily what others would say is most significant?  
     
  5. How “crazy” does fear make you act?  How do you respond to people who act in ways that are strange, or peculiar, to you?

            

Next week: 1 Samuel 22:1-23
The Cost Of Integrity

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1 Samuel: Lesson 23 — Unrelated Brothers

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 23 (Unrelated Brothers)
1 Samuel 20:1-42

The Text:

  1. Who does David go to as he flees from Saul?  Why?  What does he want to know?  How are his concerns received?  What reason does David give for Saul’s true intent to be hidden?
     
  2. What plan does David suggest in order to reveal Saul’s true intentions about him to Jonathan?  What is Jonathon’s initial reaction?
     
  3. What request did Jonathon have for David should David be right about Saul?  Why?  What would be the expected result if not for this relationship?
     
  4. What signal does Jonathan arrange to give to let David know of Saul’s intent?  How does Saul react to Jonathan’s story about why David is not at the festival meal?  What does this suggest that Saul had learned or figured out?   
     
  5. What reaction does Jonathan have to Saul’s words and actions?  What does Jonathan do?  What reminder does Jonathan leave with David as they part ways?

           

The Application:

  1. How easy/hard is it to get accurate information when you are in trouble?  Do you have someone who would listen to you when your story might sound unbelievable to them?  How do you react when someone comes to you with a story that sounds unbelievable? 
     
  2. How hard is it to consider options that include the possibility that you might be wrong?  How determined are you to discover the truth about situations, regardless of what that might be?   
        
  3. How do the actions of someone else affect your friendships with others?  Are you able to maintain friendships with individuals in spite of how others close to them may feel or act toward you?      
     
  4. Do you have ways of warning close friends of impending danger?  Would you know if they were in danger?  How concerned are you about protecting your “legacy”?  
     
  5. How do you react when people close to you mistreat a friend of yours?  How valuable are friendships to you even when circumstances force you to go separate ways?

           

Next week: 1 Samuel 21:1-15
He Did What!?

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1 Samuel: Lesson 22 — Hide And Seek

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 22 (Hide And Seek)
1 Samuel 19:1-24

The Text:

  1. What did Saul tell all those around him, including his son Jonathan, to do?  What did Jonathan do instead?  Why?
     
  2. What conversation does Jonathan have with Saul?  What things does he point out about David?  How does Saul respond?
     
  3. When war breaks out again, what does David do?  How successful is he?  What does David do following the war?  What was the result?
     
  4. For what purpose does Saul send men to David’s house?  Who lets David know?  What does she do for him?  How does Saul describe David when he finds out what happened?   
     
  5. Where does David go?  Who does he go to see?  What does Saul do when he hears where David is?  What happens to those Saul sends to capture David, and eventually to himself?  Why do you think this event kept them from capturing David?

          

The Application:

  1. Have you ever been in the middle of a verbal attack on someone you know — perhaps even had someone close to you ask you to participate in that attack?  How do/would you respond?  What influences your decision? 
     
  2. What makes it hard to defend a person who is being unjustly attacked?  Are there things that make it easier?  Are there people in your life that you know would stand up for you?  Are there people who know you would stand up for them?     
     
  3. How is it possible to keep doing what you are supposed to do when you know it benefits those who are against you?  How do you realize when it is time to “stand up under” hardship or temptation and when it is time to find the “way of escape”?   
         
  4. What risks are you willing to take to protect the innocent?  Are there limits to what you would do?  What determines that?  Are there people that you consider an enemy that have done nothing but good for you?  
     
  5. Who do you turn to when you feel threatened?  Have you ever experienced God using truth to defend and protect you?  How can you use truth to defend and protect others?

          

Next week: 1 Samuel 20:1-42
Unrelated Brothers

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The Right Thing In The Wrong Place

Life is full of things that are good and useful when used in the correct manner and place.  Many of these same things can wreak havoc on an individual, group, or society when used in ways and places contradictory to their intended purpose.  Lesson 6 of the study I am leading through 1 Samuel looks at this very thing as the Philistines capture the Ark of the LORD from the Israelites.  They believed that simple possession of this “right thing” would ensure God’s presence among them and His departure from the Israelites.

The Ark definitely was the right thing — it was to represent the very presence of God in the midst of the Israelite nation.  It was built according to the design and instruction of God Himself.  The directions from God for its care and treatment were very specific.  The very mention among the Philistines that the Israelites were bringing it to the battle front caused great fear and trembling among all the soldiers.  So when victory came to the Philistines they took the ark with them and set it up in the temple of their God, Dagon.

In 1 Samuel chapter 5, we see the results of the Philistines having the “right thing” in the wrong place.  As they arrive at their temple they discover their God, Dagon, lying face-down on the floor.  They set him back up only to find him on the floor again the next day missing his head and hands!  The area around the city was filled with devastation and the people were afflicted with tumors.  Yet rather than recognize they had the right thing in the wrong place, they passed the ark on to another city with the same results there.  So they in turn pass it on to a third city with similar results.  You might say the third time is charm because it is here that the people cry out to have the ark sent back to where it belongs.

So, I’m guessing that Harrison Ford’s search for the lost ark didn’t result in you obtaining the ark and keeping it in a place and manner contrary to its intended purpose. 😉  What, then, is the lesson in this scripture text that God would have for us?  The answer to that comes down to an understanding of right things, wrong places, and the connection between the two.  In talking about the freedom we have in Christ, Paul writes that “all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial”.  Through even a casual reading of Paul’s writings, it is obvious he is not dismissing the “thou shalt not’s” of scripture but is writing about matters of opinion and preference.  He is writing about doing things that are right, but doing them in ways and places that are wrong because of the negative influence it would have on a brother or sister in Christ. 

In connection with the 1 Samuel text, the question that begs an answer is “what do I do with the sacred things — the meaningful symbols — of my relationship with God?”.  In the sermon on the mount, Jesus instructs his listeners to not give what is sacred to the dogs nor cast their pearls to the swine.  He indicates that doing so not only destroys what is valuable, but it puts us in danger as well.  Paul writes in reference to our participation in the Lord’s Supper that there is a wrong place, or way, to do a very right thing.  Some were making a mockery out of the communion elements — eating and drinking to satisfy their own stomachs while ignoring the needs and the people surrounding them.  Paul writes that these individuals were not eating and drinking fellowship with Jesus Christ, they were eating and drinking judgment unto themselves.  He goes on to say that it is for this reason that some of them are sick and have even died. 

The command is for each person to examine themselves so that they are spiritually in the right place to do the right thing.  I pray that you and I would make good use of the opportunity that God has given us through the remembrance meal of the Lord’s Supper.  May our communion with Jesus Christ help us to do the right things and to do them in the right  places and ways.

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1 Samuel: Lesson 21 — The Rise To Fame

The following are discussion questions from a weekly study I am leading through the book of 1 Samuel.  We meet each Wednesday evening at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

 

Here Comes A King:
A Study of the Book of 1 Samuel

Lesson 21 (The Rise To Fame)
1 Samuel 18:1-30

The Text:

  1. Following the defeat of Goliath, who did David become friends with?  Why do you think that happened?  What change did Saul initially make regarding David?  How did David do with the tasks Saul would assign him?   How did Saul, and others, respond?
     
  2. After the battle, who did the Israelite women come out to meet?  What was the refrain of the song they were singing?  How did this make Saul feel?
     
  3. What did Saul do when a harmful spirit from God came upon him?  How did Saul feel toward David now?  What task did Saul assign David?  Why, what did he hope to see happen?
     
  4. How did David respond when Saul wanted to give him his oldest daughter, Merab, in marriage?  How does Saul approach David regarding Saul’s daughter Michal?  What is Saul’s hope?   
     
  5. What happens when word gets to David of the “bride-price” Saul sets for Michal?  What did Saul realize about David?  What effect did this have on him?

         

The Application:

  1. How easy is it to connect with people  of like mind and spirit?  Who makes you look good by what they do?  How do people around you respond when you do things with excellence? 
     
  2. How do you feel when you are overshadowed by the accomplishments of someone else?  Why is it so hard to see another person get glory or credit that is greater than what you receive?    
       
  3. Are there people you wish dead, or at least out of your life, because their accomplishments make yours look small in your own eyes?  How should you treat them?  What are some ways to help you get to that point?      
     
  4. How do you view yourself in relation to others?  What is the danger of thinking too highly of yourself?  . . . Too  low of yourself?  How can you find the right view of yourself?  
     
  5. How do you handle the success of others?  How do you handle your own success?

         

Next week: 1 Samuel 19:1-24
Hide And Seek

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HOPE In The Valley

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 
    He makes me lie down in green pastures,
     he leads me beside quiet waters, 
      he restores my soul.
     He guides me in paths of righteousness
     for his name’s sake. 
 Even though I walk
     through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
     for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
     they comfort me. 
 You prepare a table before me
     in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
     my cup overflows. 
 Surely goodness and love will follow me
     all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
     forever.

 Psalm 23 is familiar to many and often looked to for comfort and encouragement in times of grief and great loss.  In preparing to preach recently at Deer Run, God helped me to see a connection between this passage and the statements of Jesus in John 10 where He identifies Himself as the good Shepherd.  As I look at these passages, I see four things that Jesus brings to us so that we can have HOPE in the valley.

I know that often it feels like the time in the valley is so desolate, and you’re so alone, that there can’t possibly be anyone else that is in the valley or could even understand.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending how you look at it, that is just not true.  We all walk through the valley at times — many times more often than we admit and for most, more often than we like.  Some of our valleys are much easier for others, and ourself, to identify.  In the 23 Psalm, David writes of the “valley of the shadow of death”.  It is one of the reasons this Psalm is used so often to comfort families and loved ones at funeral services as they walk through that valley.  It is a valley that we all walk through from time to time but not the only valley we are likely to experience.  There are the valleys of loneliness, rejection, hurt, anger, illness, poverty, hunger, need, exhaustion, despair, confusion, . . . I hope you get the point, the list goes on and on.  You’ve probably seen yourself in one or more of these valleys as well as others that you have experienced.  The good news is that God can, and wants, to bring HOPE to your valley.

The first quality that God desires to bring to our valley is Healing.  Jesus states that it is not the healthy that need a physician, but the sick.  He came to bring a wellness to the lives of those who realize they are sick — a healing to those who are hurting in the valley.  David describes that in this Psalm as restoring the soul.  As our Shepherd, God wants to bring healing to the innermost part of who we are.  Healing is needed when we walk through our valley.  God’s desire is for us to find and depend on Him as the one who heals.

Secondly, we find Opportunity in the valley.  This can be extremely hard to grasp while we are in the valley but God can use our hardships and heartaches to prepare and refine us for greater things.  It has often been said that an advantage of hitting rock bottom is that there is nowhere to go but up.  While I wouldn’t suggest reaching that point purposefully, as Christians our valleys ought to cause us to evaluate where we are at and to look up.  It is in the valley that we often have the opportunity to learn greater trust and dependence on God.  The life lessons learned in the valley, while often the hardest, are usually not learned anywhere else.  God’s gift of opportunity in the valley is a key component of the hope that we all long for.

Protection in the valley can often seem like a great mystery and contradiction to us — particularly while we are in the valley.  Our mind often thinks that if God were providing protection, I wouldn’t be here in the first place.  As one who had been in the valley numerous times, David realized that even when he walks through the valley of the shadow of death there was no need to fear evil because God was with him.  David spent so much time being tracked down and hunted with Saul trying to kill  him.  He, more than many, understood the protection God could give as he speaks of God preparing a table for him in the presence of his enemies.  I don’t know about you, but for me it takes a great amount of confidence in the One protecting me for me to be able to sit at a table while my enemies are watching.  God’s protecting us from the evil one went all the way to Calvary where the “Good Shepherd” laid down his life for His sheep — you and I.  Holding fast to God as our protector goes a long way in bring hope to our valley.

Additionally, we have Encouragement in the valley.  David realized that the rod and staff of his Shepherd were not meant to harm or frighten him but to bring comfort to his life.  Sometimes it is in our valley that we are quiet and still enough to feel the comfort of God’s rod and staff in our life.  David recognized that God’s presence in  his valley was an encouraging reminder that His goodness and mercy would be with him all the days of his life.  But it didn’t end there.  It was in the valley that he was reminded of the great encouragement that comes with the promise of dwelling in the house of the LORD forever.  Encouragement in the valley provides hope as we recognize the great love and faithfulness of the God we serve.

Do you need HOPE in your valley today?  I pray that you would lean mightily upon God for insight into His Healing, Opportunity, Protection, and Encouragement that He desires for you to have. 

But wait, there’s more!  Whether you are currently in a valley or not, you have a job to do!  Spread the HOPE that God has brought into your life.  Paul writes in 2 Corinthians and instructs us to comfort others with the same comfort we have received through Jesus.  Part of the opportunity of our valley is in the receiving of comfort and hope from our LORD so that we in turn can offer comfort and hope to others.  We learn through scripture that Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin.  He walked through the same valleys we find ourselves in.  He knows our sorrows and our pain first hand.  It is through His greatest valley that we find the foundation for HOPE in our valley.

Praying that you and I both receive and share HOPE in the valleys of life.