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N e w K i n g J a m e s V e r s i o n

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B i b l e

M a c A rt h u rD A I L Y

R e a d t h e B i b l e i n O n e Ye a r w i t h n o t e s f r o m

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J o h nM a c A r t h u r

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The MacArthur Daily BibleCopyright © 2003 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Notes and commentary copyright © 2003 by John F. MacArthur, Jr.All rights reserved.

Interior design, typesetting, and editorial development and research provided by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version®

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.All rights reserved.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) may be quoted or reprinted without prior written permission with the following qualifications: (1) up to and including 1,000 verses may be quoted in printedform as long as the verses quoted amount to less than 50% of a complete book of the Bible and make upless than 50% of the total work in which they are quoted; (2) all NKJV quotations must conform accuratelyto the NKJV text.

Any use of the NKJV text must include a proper acknowledgment as follows:

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.Used by permission. All rights reserved.

However, when quotations from the NKJV text are used in church bulletins, orders of service, Sundayschool lessons, church newsletters, and similar works in the course of religious instruction or services at a place of worship or other religious assembly, the following notice may be used at the end of each quotation: NKJV.

For quotation requests not covered by the above guidelines, write to:Thomas Nelson, Inc.Attention: Bible Rights and PermissionsP.O. Box 141000Nashville, TN 37214-1000

All Rights ReservedPrinted in the United States of America

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January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .541

July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .658August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .776September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .874October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .985November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1099December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1214

Genesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Gen.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Exodus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Ex.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Lev.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Num.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Deuteronomy . . . . . . .(Deut.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271Joshua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Josh.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Judg.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Ruth) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4121 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1 Sam.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4192 Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . .(2 Sam.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4741 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1 Kin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5192 Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(2 Kin.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5661 Chronicles . . . . . . . . .(1 Chr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6172 Chronicles . . . . . . . . .(2 Chr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665Ezra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Ezra) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726Nehemiah . . . . . . . . . . . .(Neh.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746Esther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Esth.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Job) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788Psalms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Ps.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Proverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Prov.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Ecclesiastes . . . . . . . . . . (Eccl.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855Song of Solomon . . . .(Song) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874Isaiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Is.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886Jeremiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Jer.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1009Lamentations . . . . . . . .(Lam.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Ezek.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1119Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Dan.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205Hosea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Hos.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1230Joel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Joel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1250Amos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Amos) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1256Obadiah . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Obad.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1269Jonah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Jon.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1272Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Mic.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1275Nahum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Nah.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286Habakkuk . . . . . . . . . . . .(Hab.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1289Zephaniah . . . . . . . . . . . .(Zeph.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1294Haggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Hag.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1298Zechariah . . . . . . . . . . . .(Zech.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1301Malachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Mal.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1319

Welcome to The MacArthur Daily Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vFifty-two Key Passages of the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

The Old Testament

Months

table of contents

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Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Matt.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Mark) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Luke) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(John) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .459Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Acts) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .602Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Rom.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7701 Corinthians . . . . . . . .(1 Cor.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8332 Corinthians . . . . . . . .(2 Cor.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .905Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Gal.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .955Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . . .(Eph.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .979Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . .(Phil.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1003Colossians . . . . . . . . . . . .(Col.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10211 Thessalonians . . .(1 Thess.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10362 Thessalonians . . .(2 Thess.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1054

1 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . .(1 Tim.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10642 Timothy . . . . . . . . . . .(2 Tim.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1086Titus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Titus) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1103Philemon . . . . . . . . . . .(Philem.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1118Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Heb.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1121James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(James) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11751 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1 Pet.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11922 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(2 Pet.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12121 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(1 John) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12242 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(2 John) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12403 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(3 John) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1243Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Jude) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1246Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . .(Rev.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1249

The new Testament

A.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .in the year of our Lorda.k.a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .also known asa.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .midnight to noonB.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .before Christca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .about, approximatelycf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .comparechap., chaps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .chapter, chapterscontra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .contrast

e.g. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .for exampleet al. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .and othersetc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .and so forthf., ff. . . . . . . . . . .following verse, following versesi.e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .that isMt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mountp.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .noon to midnightv., vv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .verse, verses

Table of Abbreviations

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No matter how much teaching and preach-ing you listen to, there can be no substi-

tute for reading the Word of God dailyyourself. The Bible is God’s precious revela-tion of Himself to you. It’s your point of contactwith Him, where you learn the precious truthHe has given to the Body of Christ. It’s whereyou discover that history is His story, as yousee the chain of events unfolding, alwaysknown to God, that led up to the birth, min-istry, death, resurrection, and ascension of ourLord Jesus Christ. And it’s where you learnwhat the future has in store in that wonderfulday when the Lord returns.

This MacArthur Daily Bible provides a goodway to develop a daily Bible reading habit. Foreach day of the year, it gives you a portion of theOld Testament, a bit from Psalms and Proverbs,and a portion of the New Testament, from thetrusted New King James Version of the Bible.

It’s all in Bible order: In each day’s readings,you pick up where you left off the day before. Ifyou stay in this Daily Bible every day for a year,you will have read through the entire Bible!

Along with each day’s Scripture passagesthere are helpful comments and notes gleanedfrom the writings of John MacArthur.

WAYS TO WORK THE PLAN

There are several ways you might like to usethe daily readings:

1) Bible in one year, once a day: Follow theplan. Read each day’s readings during yourdaily Bible reading time, to finish the wholeBible in a year.

2) Bible in one year, twice a day: Like 1)above, but in two sittings. Read the Psalms,Proverbs, and New Testament readings in themorning and the Old Testament reading inthe evening.

3) Bible in two years: Read the Psalms,Proverbs, and New Testament readings thefirst year, then the Old Testament readingsthe second year.

KEY MEMORY PASSAGES

If you like to focus on specific Bible pas-sages, we have also included a section thatspotlights 52 key scriptures, with additionalcomments from Dr. MacArthur. These pas-sages are also good ones to memorize. Learnthem by heart, and at year’s end, you’ll have52 of the Bible’s most important passagescommitted to memory.

OUR PRAYER FOR YOU

May the Lord use your reading of His Wordto strengthen and guide you in your faith asyou live for Him each day. As you read theBible daily, may you be blessed with thepeace and reassurance that only God cangive.

Welcome to The MacArthur Daily Bible

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we may give an answer to those who sent us?What do you say about yourself?”

23He said: “I am

‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:“Make straight the way of the LORD,” ’

as the prophet Isaiah said.”24Now those who were sent were from the

Pharisees. 25And they asked him, saying,

“Why then do you baptize if you are not theChrist, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26John answered them, saying, “I baptizewith water, but there stands One among youwhom you do not know. 27It is He who, comingafter me, is preferred before me, whose san-dal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

28These things were done in Bethabarabeyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

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“In the beginning.” In contrast to 1 John 1:1 where John used a similar phrase (“from the begin-ning”) to refer to the starting point of Jesus’ ministry and gospel preaching, this phrase parallelsGenesis 1:1 where the same phrase is used. John used the phrase in an absolute sense to refer to thebeginning of the time-space-material universe.“Was.”The verb highlights the eternal preexistence ofthe Word, i.e., Jesus Christ. Before the universe began, the Second Person of the Trinity always exist-ed; i.e., He always was (see 8:58). This word is used in contrast with the verb “was made” (or “weremade”) in v. 3, which indicate a beginning in time. Because of John’s theme that Jesus Christ is theeternal God, the Second Person of the Trinity, he did not include a genealogy as Matthew and Lukedid. In terms of Jesus’ humanity, He had a human genealogy; but in terms of His deity, He has nogenealogy.

“The Word.”John borrowed the use of the term “Word”not only from the vocabulary of the OldTestament but also from Greek philosophy, in which the term was essentially impersonal, signifyingthe rational principle of “divine reason,”“mind,” or even “wisdom.” John, however, imbued the termentirely with Old Testament and Christian meaning (e.g., Gen. 1:3 where God’s Word brought theworld into being; Pss. 33:6; 107:20; Prov. 8:27 where God’s Word is His powerful self-expression increation, wisdom, revelation, and salvation) and made it refer to a person, i.e., Jesus Christ. Greekphilosophical usage, therefore, is not the exclusive background of John’s thought. Strategically, theterm “Word” serves as a bridge-word to reach not only Jews but also the unsaved Greeks. Johnchose this concept because both Jews and Greeks were familiar with it.

“The Word was with God.” The Word, as the Second Person of the Trinity, was in intimate fel-lowship with God the Father throughout all eternity.Yet, although the Word enjoyed the splendorsof heaven and eternity with the Father (Is. 6:1–13; see 12:41; 17:5), He willingly gave up His heaven-ly status, taking the form of a man, and became subject to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:6–8).“WasGod.” The Greek construction emphasizes that the Word had all the essence or attributes of Deity,i.e., Jesus the Messiah was fully God (Col. 2:9). Even in His incarnation when He emptied Himself, Hedid not cease to be God but took on a genuine human nature/body and voluntarily refrained fromthe independent exercise of the attributes of Deity.

DAY 10: Note the powerful words loaded into John 1:1.

May 11

1 Samuel 24:1–25:44

24 Now it happened, when Saul hadreturned from following the Philistines,

that it was told him, saying, “Take note! Davidis in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” 2Then Saultook three thousand chosen men from allIsrael, and went to seek David and his men onthe Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3So he came tothe sheepfolds by the road, where there was acave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs.(David and his men were staying in therecesses of the cave.) 4Then the men of Davidsaid to him, “This is the day of which the LORD

said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemyinto your hand, that you may do to him as itseems good to you.’ ” And David arose andsecretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5Now ithappened afterward that David’s heart troubledhim because he had cut Saul’s robe. 6And he

24:4 the day of which the LORD said to you.David’s men perhaps believed that God hadprovidentially placed Saul in the same cavewhere they were hiding so David could kill theking. However, nothing revelatory had previouslybeen said by the Lord that indicated He wantedDavid to lift a hand against Saul.

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said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I shoulddo this thing to my master, the LORD’s anoint-ed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeinghe is the anointed of the LORD.” 7So David re-strained his servants with these words, and didnot allow them to rise against Saul. And Saulgot up from the cave and went on his way.

8David also arose afterward, went out of thecave, and called out to Saul, saying, “My lordthe king!” And when Saul looked behind him,David stooped with his face to the earth, andbowed down. 9And David said to Saul: “Why doyou listen to the words of men who say, ‘IndeedDavid seeks your harm’? 10Look, this day youreyes have seen that the LORD delivered youtoday into my hand in the cave, and someoneurged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, andI said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against mylord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11Moreover,my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robein my hand! For in that I cut off the corner ofyour robe, and did not kill you, know and seethat there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand,and I have not sinned against you. Yet you huntmy life to take it. 12Let the LORD judge betweenyou and me, and let the LORD avenge me on you.But my hand shall not be against you. 13As theproverb of the ancients says, ‘Wickedness pro-ceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall notbe against you. 14After whom has the king ofIsrael come out? Whom do you pursue? A deaddog? A flea? 15Therefore let the LORD be judge,and judge between you and me, and see andplead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”

16So it was, when David had finished speak-ing these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is thisyour voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted uphis voice and wept. 17Then he said to David:“You are more righteous than I; for you haverewarded me with good, whereas I haverewarded you with evil. 18And you have shownthis day how you have dealt well with me; forwhen the LORD delivered me into your hand,

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you did not kill me. 19For if a man finds hisenemy, will he let him get away safely? There-fore may the LORD reward you with good forwhat you have done to me this day. 20And nowI know indeed that you shall surely be king,and that the kingdom of Israel shall be estab-lished in your hand. 21Therefore swear now tome by the LORD that you will not cut off mydescendants after me, and that you will notdestroy my name from my father’s house.”

22So David swore to Saul. And Saul wenthome, but David and his men went up to thestronghold.

25 Then Samuel died; and the Israelitesgathered together and lamented for

him, and buried him at his home in Ramah.And David arose and went down to the Wilder-ness of Paran.

2Now there was a man in Maon whose busi-ness was in Carmel, and the man was very rich.He had three thousand sheep and a thousandgoats. And he was shearing his sheep inCarmel. 3The name of the man was Nabal, andthe name of his wife Abigail. And she was awoman of good understanding and beautifulappearance; but the man was harsh and evil inhis doings. He was of the house of Caleb.

4When David heard in the wilderness thatNabal was shearing his sheep, 5David sent tenyoung men; and David said to the young men,“Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet himin my name. 6And thus you shall say to himwho lives in prosperity: ‘Peace be to you, peaceto your house, and peace to all that you have!7Now I have heard that you have shearers.Your shepherds were with us, and we did nothurt them, nor was there anything missingfrom them all the while they were in Carmel.8Ask your young men, and they will tell you.Therefore let my young men find favor in youreyes, for we come on a feast day. Please givewhatever comes to your hand to your servantsand to your son David.’ ”

9So when David’s young men came, theyspoke to Nabal according to all these words inthe name of David, and waited.

10Then Nabal answered David’s servants,and said, “Who is David, and who is the son ofJesse? There are many servants nowadayswho break away each one from his master.11Shall I then take my bread and my water andmy meat that I have killed for my shearers,and give it to men when I do not know wherethey are from?”

12So David’s young men turned on theirheels and went back; and they came and toldhim all these words. 13Then David said to hismen, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every

24:5 David’s heart troubled him. David wasable to cut off a piece of Saul’s robe undetected.However, touching Saul’s clothing was tanta-mount to touching his person, and David’sconscience troubled him on this account.

24:6 LORD’s anointed. David recognized thatthe Lord Himself had placed Saul into thekingship. Thus the judgment and removal ofSaul had to be left to the Lord.


man girded on his sword, and David also gird-ed on his sword. And about four hundred menwent with David, and two hundred stayed withthe supplies.

14Now one of the young men told Abigail,Nabal’s wife, saying, “Look, David sent mes-sengers from the wilderness to greet our mas-ter; and he reviled them. 15But the men werevery good to us, and we were not hurt, nor didwe miss anything as long as we accompaniedthem, when we were in the fields. 16They werea wall to us both by night and day, all the timewe were with them keeping the sheep. 17Nowtherefore, know and consider what you willdo, for harm is determined against our masterand against all his household. For he is such ascoundrel that one cannot speak to him.”

18Then Abigail made haste and took twohundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, fivesheep already dressed, five seahs of roastedgrain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and twohundred cakes of figs, and loaded them ondonkeys. 19And she said to her servants, “Goon before me; see, I am coming after you.” Butshe did not tell her husband Nabal.

20So it was, as she rode on the donkey, thatshe went down under cover of the hill; andthere were David and his men, coming downtoward her, and she met them. 21Now Davidhad said, “Surely in vain I have protected allthat this fellow has in the wilderness, so thatnothing was missed of all that belongs to him.And he has repaid me evil for good. 22May Goddo so, and more also, to the enemies of David,if I leave one male of all who belong to him bymorning light.”

23Now when Abigail saw David, she dis-mounted quickly from the donkey, fell on herface before David, and bowed down to theground. 24So she fell at his feet and said: “Onme, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! Andplease let your maidservant speak in yourears, and hear the words of your maidservant.25Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrelNabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is hisname, and folly is with him! But I, yourmaidservant, did not see the young men of mylord whom you sent. 26Now therefore, my lord,as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, sincethe LORD has held you back from coming tobloodshed and from avenging yourself withyour own hand, now then, let your enemiesand those who seek harm for my lord be asNabal. 27And now this present which yourmaidservant has brought to my lord, let it begiven to the young men who follow my lord.28Please forgive the trespass of your maidser-vant. For the LORD will certainly make for my

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lord an enduring house, because my lordfights the battles of the LORD, and evil is notfound in you throughout your days. 29Yet aman has risen to pursue you and seek yourlife, but the life of my lord shall be bound inthe bundle of the living with the LORD yourGod; and the lives of your enemies He shallsling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30And itshall come to pass, when the LORD has donefor my lord according to all the good that Hehas spoken concerning you, and has appoint-ed you ruler over Israel, 31that this will be nogrief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord,either that you have shed blood without cause,or that my lord has avenged himself. Butwhen the LORD has dealt well with my lord,then remember your maidservant.”

32Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is theLORD God of Israel, who sent you this day tomeet me! 33And blessed is your advice andblessed are you, because you have kept me thisday from coming to bloodshed and from aveng-ing myself with my own hand. 34For indeed, asthe LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept meback from hurting you, unless you had hur-ried and come to meet me, surely by morninglight no males would have been left to Nabal!”35So David received from her hand what shehad brought him, and said to her, “Go up inpeace to your house. See, I have heeded yourvoice and respected your person.”

36Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there hewas, holding a feast in his house, like the feastof a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry withinhim, for he was very drunk; therefore she toldhim nothing, little or much, until morninglight. 37So it was, in the morning, when thewine had gone from Nabal, and his wife hadtold him these things, that his heart died with-in him, and he became like a stone. 38Then ithappened, after about ten days, that the LORDstruck Nabal, and he died.

39So when David heard that Nabal was dead,he said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has plead-ed the cause of my reproach from the hand ofNabal, and has kept His servant from evil! Forthe LORD has returned the wickedness ofNabal on his own head.”

And David sent and proposed to Abigail, totake her as his wife. 40When the servants ofDavid had come to Abigail at Carmel, theyspoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, toask you to become his wife.”

41Then she arose, bowed her face to theearth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, aservant to wash the feet of the servants of mylord.” 42So Abigail rose in haste and rode on adonkey, attended by five of her maidens; and


she followed the messengers of David, andbecame his wife. 43David also took Ahinoam ofJezreel, and so both of them were his wives.

44But Saul had given Michal his daughter,David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who wasfrom Gallim.

Psalm 60:1–5

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Lily of theTestimony.” A Michtam of David. For teaching.When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria

of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelvethousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

O God, You have cast us off;You have broken us down;You have been displeased;Oh, restore us again!

2 You have made the earth tremble;You have broken it;Heal its breaches, for it is shaking.

3 You have shown Your people hardthings;

You have made us drink the wine ofconfusion.

4 You have given a banner to those whofear You,

That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah

5 That Your beloved may be delivered,Save with Your right hand, and hear me.

Proverbs 16:33 Commit your works to the LORD,

And your thoughts will be established.

John 1:29–5129The next day John saw Jesus coming toward

him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God whotakes away the sin of the world! 30This is He ofwhom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who ispreferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31Idid not know Him; but that He should berevealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizingwith water.”

32And John bore witness, saying, “I saw theSpirit descending from heaven like a dove, andHe remained upon Him. 33I did not know Him,but He who sent me to baptize with water saidto me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit

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descending, and remaining on Him, this is Hewho baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I haveseen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

35Again, the next day, John stood with two ofhis disciples. 36And looking at Jesus as Hewalked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

37The two disciples heard him speak, andthey followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned, andseeing them following, said to them, “What doyou seek?”

They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say,when translated, Teacher), “where are Youstaying?”

39He said to them, “Come and see.” Theycame and saw where He was staying, andremained with Him that day (now it was aboutthe tenth hour).

40One of the two who heard John speak, andfollowed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’sbrother. 41He first found his own brother Si-mon, and said to him, “We have found theMessiah” (which is translated, the Christ).42And he brought him to Jesus.

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said,“You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall becalled Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

43The following day Jesus wanted to go toGalilee, and He found Philip and said to him,“Follow Me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida,the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Na-thanael and said to him, “We have found Himof whom Moses in the law, and also theprophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the sonof Joseph.”

46And Nathanael said to him, “Can anythinggood come out of Nazareth?”

16:3 Commit. Literally,“roll upon” in the senseof both total trust (3:5,6) and submission tothe will of God (Pss. 22:8; 37:5; 119:133). He willfulfill your righteous plans.

1:41 Messiah. The term “Messiah”is a translitera-tion of a Hebrew or Aramaic verbal adjective thatmeans “Anointed One.” It comes from a verbthat means “to anoint” someone as an actioninvolved in consecrating that person to a par-ticular office or function. While the term at firstapplied to the king of Israel (“the LORD’s anoint-ed,” 1 Sam. 16:6), the high priest (“the anointedpriest,” Lev. 4:3) and, in one passage, the patri-archs (“My anointed ones,” Ps. 105:15), the termeventually came to point above all to theprophesied “Coming One” or “Messiah” in Hisrole as prophet, priest, and king. The term“Christ,” a Greek word (verbal adjective) thatcomes from a verb meaning “to anoint,” is usedin translating the Hebrew term, so that theterms “Messiah” or “Christ” are titles and notpersonal names of Jesus.


Philip said to him, “Come and see.”47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him,

and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed,in whom is no deceit!”

48Nathanael said to Him, “How do You knowme?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “BeforePhilip called you, when you were under the figtree, I saw you.”

49Nathanael answered and said to Him,

May 12

1 Samuel 26:1–27:12

26 Now the Ziphites came to Saul atGibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding in

the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?” 2ThenSaul arose and went down to the Wilderness ofZiph, having three thousand chosen men ofIsrael with him, to seek David in the Wilder-ness of Ziph. 3And Saul encamped in the hill ofHachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by theroad. But David stayed in the wilderness, andhe saw that Saul came after him into thewilderness. 4David therefore sent out spies,and understood that Saul had indeed come.

5So David arose and came to the placewhere Saul had encamped. And David saw theplace where Saul lay, and Abner the son ofNer, the commander of his army. Now Saul laywithin the camp, with the people encamped all

around him. 6Then David answered, and said toAhimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son ofZeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, “Who will godown with me to Saul in the camp?”

And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”7So David and Abishai came to the people

by night; and there Saul lay sleeping withinthe camp, with his spear stuck in the groundby his head. And Abner and the people lay allaround him. 8Then Abishai said to David, “Godhas delivered your enemy into your hand thisday. Now therefore, please, let me strike him atonce with the spear, right to the earth; and I willnot have to strike him a second time!”

9But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroyhim; for who can stretch out his hand againstthe LORD’s anointed, and be guiltless?” 10Davidsaid furthermore, “As the LORD lives, the LORDshall strike him, or his day shall come to die,or he shall go out to battle and perish. 11TheLORD forbid that I should stretch out my handagainst the LORD’s anointed. But please, take

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“Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are theKing of Israel!”

50Jesus answered and said to him, “Be-cause I said to you, ‘I saw you under the figtree,’ do you believe? You will see greaterthings than these.” 51And He said to him,“Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter youshall see heaven open, and the angels of Godascending and descending upon the Son ofMan.”

John the Baptist’s witness to Jesus in John 1 introduces a lengthy list of titles applied to Jesus:Lamb of God (vv. 29,36), Rabbi (vv. 38,49), Messiah/Christ (v. 41), Son of God (vv. 34,49), King of Israel(v. 49), Son of Man (v. 51), and “Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote” (v. 45).

In John 1:29, John the Baptist refers to Jesus as “The Lamb of God.”The use of a lamb for sacrificewas very familiar to Jews. A lamb was used as a sacrifice during Passover (Ex. 12:1–36); a lamb wasled to the slaughter in the prophecies of Isaiah (Is. 53:7); a lamb was offered in the daily sacrifices ofIsrael (Lev.14:12–21; Heb.10:5–7). John the Baptist used this expression as a reference to the ultimatesacrifice of Jesus on the cross to atone for the sins of the world, a theme which John the apostle carriesthroughout his writings (19:36; see Rev. 5:1–6; 7:17; 17:14) and that appears in other New Testamentwritings (e.g., 1 Pet. 1:19).

“Who takes away the sin of the world.” In this context “world” has the connotation of humanityin general, not specifically every person. The use of the singular “sin” in conjunction with “of theworld”indicates that Jesus’sacrifice for sin potentially reaches all human beings without distinction(1 John 2:2). John makes clear, however, that its efficacious effect is only for those who receive Christ(vv. 11,12).

John adds that “I saw the Spirit descending…upon Him” (v. 32). God had previously communi-cated to John that this sign was to indicate the promised Messiah (v. 33), so when John witnessedthis act, he was able to identify the Messiah as Jesus (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22).“I have seenand testified that this is the Son of God” (v. 34). Although, in a limited sense, believers can be called“sons of God”(v. 12; Matt. 5:9; Rom. 8:14), John uses this phrase with the full force as a title that pointsto the unique oneness and intimacy that Jesus sustains to the Father as “Son.”The term carries theidea of the deity of Jesus as Messiah (v. 49; 5:16–30; 2 Sam. 7:14; Ps. 2:7; Heb. 1:1–9).

DAY 11: How did John the Baptist characterize Jesus Christ?


now the spear and the jug of water that are byhis head, and let us go.” 12So David took thespear and the jug of water by Saul’s head, andthey got away; and no man saw or knew it orawoke. For they were all asleep, because adeep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.

13Now David went over to the other side,and stood on the top of a hill afar off, a greatdistance being between them. 14And Davidcalled out to the people and to Abner the sonof Ner, saying, “Do you not answer, Abner?”

Then Abner answered and said, “Who areyou, calling out to the king?”

15So David said to Abner, “Are you not aman? And who is like you in Israel? Why thenhave you not guarded your lord the king? Forone of the people came in to destroy your lordthe king. 16This thing that you have done is notgood. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die,because you have not guarded your master,the LORD’s anointed. And now see where theking’s spear is, and the jug of water that wasby his head.”

17Then Saul knew David’s voice, and said, “Isthat your voice, my son David?”

David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.”18And he said, “Why does my lord thus pursuehis servant? For what have I done, or what evilis in my hand? 19Now therefore, please, let mylord the king hear the words of his servant: Ifthe LORD has stirred you up against me, letHim accept an offering. But if it is the childrenof men, may they be cursed before the LORD,for they have driven me out this day fromsharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying,‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20So now, do not let myblood fall to the earth before the face of theLORD. For the king of Israel has come out toseek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge inthe mountains.”

21Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, myson David. For I will harm you no more,because my life was precious in your eyes thisday. Indeed I have played the fool and erredexceedingly.”

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22And David answered and said, “Here is theking’s spear. Let one of the young men comeover and get it. 23May the LORD repay everyman for his righteousness and his faithfulness;for the LORD delivered you into my hand today,but I would not stretch out my hand against theLORD’s anointed. 24And indeed, as your life wasvalued much this day in my eyes, so let my lifebe valued much in the eyes of the LORD, and letHim deliver me out of all tribulation.”

25Then Saul said to David, “May you beblessed, my son David! You shall both dogreat things and also still prevail.”

So David went on his way, and Saul returnedto his place.

27 And David said in his heart, “Now Ishall perish someday by the hand of

Saul. There is nothing better for me than that Ishould speedily escape to the land of the Phi-listines; and Saul will despair of me, to seekme anymore in any part of Israel. So I shallescape out of his hand.” 2Then David arose andwent over with the six hundred men who werewith him to Achish the son of Maoch, king ofGath. 3So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, heand his men, each man with his household,and David with his two wives, Ahinoam theJezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess,Nabal’s widow. 4And it was told Saul that Davidhad fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.

5Then David said to Achish, “If I have nowfound favor in your eyes, let them give me aplace in some town in the country, that I maydwell there. For why should your servant dwellin the royal city with you?” 6So Achish gave himZiklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belongedto the kings of Judah to this day. 7Now the timethat David dwelt in the country of thePhilistines was one full year and four months.

8And David and his men went up and raided theGeshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. Forthose nations were the inhabitants of the landfrom of old, as you go to Shur, even as far asthe land of Egypt. 9Whenever David attacked

26:21 I have sinned. As in 24:17, Saul con-fessed his sin and wrongdoing. Although Saulmay have been sincere, he could not be trustedand David wisely did not accept his invitationto return with him. I have played the fool.Saul had been foolish in his actions towardDavid, as had Nabal.

27:1 by the hand of Saul. In direct contrast toSaul’s word that David would prevail (26:25),David thought that Saul would ultimately killhim. This anxious thinking and the fear thatfell upon him explain David’s actions in thischapter. God had told him to stay in Judah(22:5), but he was afraid and sought protectionagain among the Philistine enemies of Israel(21:10–15).


the land, he left neither man nor woman alive,but took away the sheep, the oxen, the don-keys, the camels, and the apparel, and returnedand came to Achish. 10Then Achish would say,“Where have you made a raid today?” And Da-vid would say, “Against the southern area ofJudah, or against the southern area of theJerahmeelites, or against the southern area ofthe Kenites.” 11David would save neither mannor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, say-ing, “Lest they should inform on us, saying,‘Thus David did.’ ” And thus was his behaviorall the time he dwelt in the country of thePhilistines. 12So Achish believed David, saying,“He has made his people Israel utterly abhorhim; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

Psalm 60:6–126 God has spoken in His holiness:

“I will rejoice;I will divide ShechemAnd measure out the Valley of Succoth.

7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;Ephraim also is the helmet for My head;Judah is My lawgiver.

8 Moab is My washpot;Over Edom I will cast My shoe;Philistia, shout in triumph because

of Me.”9 Who will bring me to the strong city?

Who will lead me to Edom?10 Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?

And You, O God, who did not go outwith our armies?

11 Give us help from trouble,For the help of man is useless.

12 Through God we will do valiantly,For it is He who shall tread down our

enemies.

Proverbs 16:4–54 The LORD has made all for Himself,

Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.5 Everyone proud in heart is an

abomination to the LORD;Though they join forces, none will

go unpunished.

John 2:1–25

2 On the third day there was a wedding inCana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus

was there. 2Now both Jesus and His discipleswere invited to the wedding. 3And when theyran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said toHim, “They have no wine.”

4Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does yourconcern have to do with Me? My hour has notyet come.”

5His mother said to the servants, “WhateverHe says to you, do it.”

6Now there were set there six waterpots ofstone, according to the manner of purificationof the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gal-lons apiece. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill thewaterpots with water.” And they filled them upto the brim. 8And He said to them, “Draw someout now, and take it to the master of the feast.”And they took it. 9When the master of the feasthad tasted the water that was made wine, anddid not know where it came from (but the ser-vants who had drawn the water knew), themaster of the feast called the bridegroom.10And he said to him, “Every man at the begin-ning sets out the good wine, and when theguests have well drunk, then the inferior. Youhave kept the good wine until now!”

11This beginning of signs Jesus did in Canaof Galilee, and manifested His glory; and Hisdisciples believed in Him.

12After this He went down to Capernaum,He, His mother, His brothers, and His disci-ples; and they did not stay there many days.

13Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand,and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And Hefound in the temple those who sold oxen andsheep and doves, and the money changers do-ing business. 15When He had made a whip ofcords, He drove them all out of the temple, withthe sheep and the oxen, and poured out thechangers’ money and overturned the tables.16And He said to those who sold doves, “Takethese things away! Do not make My Father’s

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2:2,3 both Jesus and His disciples were invit-ed. The fact that Jesus, His mother, and His dis-ciples all attended the wedding suggests thatthe wedding may have been for a relative orclose family friend. Andrew, Simon Peter,Philip, Nathanael, and the unnamed disciple(1:35), who was surely John, witnessed thismiracle. wine. The wine served was subject tofermentation. In the ancient world, however,to quench thirst without inducing drunken-ness, wine was diluted with water to betweenone-third and one-tenth of its strength. Due tothe climate and circumstances, even “newwine” fermented quickly and had an inebriat-ing effect if not mixed (Acts 2:13). Because of alack of water purification process, wine mixedwith water was also safer to drink than wateralone.While the Bible condemns drunkenness,it does not necessarily condemn the consump-tion of wine (Ps. 104:15; Prov. 20:1; Eph. 5:18).


house a house of merchandise!” 17Then His dis-ciples remembered that it was written, “Zealfor Your house has eaten Me up.”

18So the Jews answered and said to Him,“What sign do You show to us, since You dothese things?”

19Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroythis temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

20Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-sixyears to build this temple, and will You raise itup in three days?”

21But He was speaking of the temple of Hisbody. 22Therefore, when He had risen from thedead, His disciples remembered that He hadsaid this to them; and they believed the Scrip-ture and the word which Jesus had said.

23Now when He was in Jerusalem at thePassover, during the feast, many believed inHis name when they saw the signs which Hedid. 24But Jesus did not commit Himself tothem, because He knew all men, 25and had noneed that anyone should testify of man, for Heknew what was in man.

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May 13

1 Samuel 28:1–25

28 Now it happened in those days thatthe Philistines gathered their armies

together for war, to fight with Israel. And

Achish said to David, “You assuredly know thatyou will go out with me to battle, you and yourmen.”

2So David said to Achish, “Surely you knowwhat your servant can do.”

And Achish said to David, “Therefore I willmake you one of my chief guardians forever.”

3Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had

In John 2:18, the Jews demanded that Jesus show some type of miraculous sign that wouldindicate His authority for the actions that He had just taken in regulating the activities of the temple.Their demand of a sign reveals that they had not grasped the significance of Jesus’ rebuke thatcentered in their need for proper attitudes and holiness in worship. Such an action itself constituteda “sign” of Jesus’ person and authority. Moreover, they were requesting from Jesus a crass display ofmiracles on demand, further displaying their unbelief.

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (v. 19). At His trial, the authoritiescharged Jesus (Mark 14:29,58) with making a threatening statement against the temple, revealingthat they did not understand Jesus’ response here. Once again John’s Gospel supplements theother Gospels at this point by indicating that Jesus enigmatically referred to His resurrection. Aswith His usage of parables, Jesus’ cryptic statement most likely was designed to reveal the truth toHis disciples but conceal its meaning from unbelievers who questioned Him (Matt. 13:10,11). Onlyafter His resurrection, however, did the disciples understand the real significance of this statement(v. 22; Matt. 12:40). Importantly, through the death and resurrection of Christ, temple worship inJerusalem was destroyed (see 4:21) and reinstituted in the hearts of those who were built into a spir-itual temple called the church (Eph. 2:19–22).

“It has taken forty-six years to build this temple”(v.20).This was not a reference to the Solomonictemple, since it had been destroyed during the Babylonian conquest in 586 B.C. When the captivesreturned from Babylon, Zerubbabel and Joshua began rebuilding the temple (Ezra 1–4). Encouragedby the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 5:1–6:18), the Jews completed the work in 516 B.C. In20/19 B.C., Herod the Great began a reconstruction and expansion.Workers completed the main partof the project in 10 years, but other parts were still being constructed even at the time Jesus cleansedthe temple.The famous “Wailing Wall” is built on part of the Herodian temple foundation.

DAY 12: What did Jesus mean by His comments about the temple in John 2?

2:23,24 many believed in His name…. ButJesus did not commit Himself. John basedthese two phrases on the same Greek verb for“believe.” This verse subtly reveals the truenature of belief from a biblical standpoint.Because of what they knew of Jesus from Hismiraculous signs, many came to believe in Him.However, Jesus made it His habit not to whole-heartedly “entrust” or “commit” Himself to thembecause He knew their hearts.Verse 24 indicatesthat Jesus looked for genuine conversionrather than enthusiasm for the spectacular.Thelatter verse also leaves a subtle doubt as to thegenuineness of the conversion of some(8:31,32). This emphatic contrast between vv.23,24 in terms of type of trust, therefore,reveals that, literally, “belief into His name”involved much more than intellectual assent. Itcalled for wholehearted commitment of one’slife as Jesus’ disciple (Matt. 10:37; 16:24–26).


lamented for him and buried him in Ramah, inhis own city. And Saul had put the mediumsand the spiritists out of the land.

4Then the Philistines gathered together, andcame and encamped at Shunem. So Saul gath-ered all Israel together, and they encamped atGilboa. 5When Saul saw the army of thePhilistines, he was afraid, and his heart trem-bled greatly. 6And when Saul inquired of theLORD, the LORD did not answer him, either bydreams or by Urim or by the prophets.

7Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me awoman who is a medium, that I may go to herand inquire of her.”

And his servants said to him, “In fact, thereis a woman who is a medium at En Dor.”

8So Saul disguised himself and put on otherclothes, and he went, and two men with him;and they came to the woman by night. And hesaid, “Please conduct a séance for me, andbring up for me the one I shall name to you.”

9Then the woman said to him, “Look, youknow what Saul has done, how he has cut offthe mediums and the spiritists from the land.Why then do you lay a snare for my life, tocause me to die?”

10And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying,“As the LORD lives, no punishment shall comeupon you for this thing.”

11Then the woman said, “Whom shall I bringup for you?”

And he said, “Bring up Samuel for me.”12When the woman saw Samuel, she cried

out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke toSaul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? Foryou are Saul!”

13And the king said to her, “Do not be afraid.What did you see?”

And the woman said to Saul, “I saw a spiritascending out of the earth.”

14So he said to her, “What is his form?”And she said, “An old man is coming up,

and he is covered with a mantle.” And Saulperceived that it was Samuel, and he stoopedwith his face to the ground and bowed down.

15Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have youdisturbed me by bringing me up?”

And Saul answered, “I am deeply dis-tressed; for the Philistines make war againstme, and God has departed from me and doesnot answer me anymore, neither by prophetsnor by dreams. Therefore I have called you,that you may reveal to me what I should do.”

16Then Samuel said: “So why do you ask me,seeing the LORD has departed from you andhas become your enemy? 17And the LORD hasdone for Himself as He spoke by me. For theLORD has torn the kingdom out of your handand given it to your neighbor, David. 18Be-cause you did not obey the voice of the LORDnor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek,therefore the LORD has done this thing to youthis day. 19Moreover the LORD will also deliverIsrael with you into the hand of the Philistines.And tomorrow you and your sons will be withme. The LORD will also deliver the army ofIsrael into the hand of the Philistines.”

20Immediately Saul fell full length on theground, and was dreadfully afraid because ofthe words of Samuel. And there was nostrength in him, for he had eaten no food allday or all night.

21And the woman came to Saul and saw thathe was severely troubled, and said to him,“Look, your maidservant has obeyed yourvoice, and I have put my life in my hands andheeded the words which you spoke to me.22Now therefore, please, heed also the voice ofyour maidservant, and let me set a piece ofbread before you; and eat, that you may havestrength when you go on your way.”

23But he refused and said, “I will not eat.”So his servants, together with the woman,

urged him; and he heeded their voice. Then

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28:12 the woman saw Samuel. Thoughquestions have arisen as to the nature ofSamuel’s appearance, the text clearly indicatesthat Samuel, not an apparition, was evident tothe eyes of the medium. God miraculouslypermitted the actual spirit of Samuel to speak(vv. 16–19). Because she understood herinability to raise the dead in this manner, sheimmediately knew 1) that it must have beenby the power of God and 2) that her disguisedinquirer must be Saul.

28:3 mediums and the spiritists. By divinelaw, they were banned from Israel (Deut.18:11), and Israel was not to be defiled bythem (Lev. 19:31). Turning to them was tanta-mount to playing the harlot and would resultin God setting His face against the person andcutting him off from among His people (Lev.20:6). Mediums and spiritists were to be put todeath by stoning (Lev. 20:27). Even Saul under-stood this and had previously dealt with theissue (v. 9).


he arose from the ground and sat on the bed.24Now the woman had a fatted calf in thehouse, and she hastened to kill it. And shetook flour and kneaded it, and baked unleav-ened bread from it. 25So she brought it beforeSaul and his servants, and they ate. Then theyrose and went away that night.

Psalm 61:1–4

To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument.

A Psalm of David.

Hear my cry, O God;Attend to my prayer.

2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You,

When my heart is overwhelmed;Lead me to the rock that is higher

than I.3 For You have been a shelter for me,

A strong tower from the enemy.4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;

I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

Proverbs 16:66 In mercy and truth

Atonement is provided for iniquity;And by the fear of the LORD one

departs from evil.

John 3:1–18

3 There was a man of the Pharisees namedNicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man

came to Jesus by night and said to Him,“Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher comefrom God; for no one can do these signs thatYou do unless God is with him.”

3Jesus answered and said to him, “Mostassuredly, I say to you, unless one is bornagain, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a manbe born when he is old? Can he enter a secondtime into his mother’s womb and be born?”

5Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say toyou, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6Thatwhich is born of the flesh is flesh, and that whichis born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not marvelthat I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’8The wind blows where it wishes, and youhear the sound of it, but cannot tell where itcomes from and where it goes. So is everyonewho is born of the Spirit.”

9Nicodemus answered and said to Him,“How can these things be?”

10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you

the teacher of Israel, and do not know thesethings? 11Most assuredly, I say to you, Wespeak what We know and testify what We haveseen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12IfI have told you earthly things and you do notbelieve, how will you believe if I tell you heav-enly things? 13No one has ascended to heavenbut He who came down from heaven, that is,the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14And as Mo-ses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,15that whoever believes in Him should not per-ish but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the

world that He gave His only begotten Son, thatwhoever believes in Him should not perishbut have everlasting life. 17For God did notsend His Son into the world to condemn theworld, but that the world through Him mightbe saved.

18“He who believes in Him is not condemned;but he who does not believe is condemnedalready, because he has not believed in thename of the only begotten Son of God.

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3:15 eternal life. This is the first of 10 refer-ences to “eternal life” in John’s Gospel. Thesame Greek word is translated 8 times as“everlasting life.” The two expressions appearin the New Testament nearly 50 times. Eternallife refers not only to eternal quantity butdivine quality of life. It means literally “life ofthe age to come” and refers therefore to res-urrection and heavenly existence in perfectglory and holiness.This life for believers in theLord Jesus is experienced before heaven isreached. This “eternal life” is in essence noth-ing less than participation in the eternal life ofthe Living Word, Jesus Christ. It is the life ofGod in every believer, yet not fully manifestuntil the resurrection (Rom. 8:19–23; Phil.3:20,21).

3:16 For God so loved the world. The Son’smission is bound up in the supreme love ofGod for the evil, sinful “world” of humanity(see 6:32,51;12:47) that is in rebellion againstHim.The word “so”emphasizes the intensity orgreatness of His love. The Father gave Hisunique and beloved Son to die on behalf ofsinful men (2 Cor. 5:21).


May 14

1 Samuel 29:1–31:13

29 Then the Philistines gathered togetherall their armies at Aphek, and the

Israelites encamped by a fountain which is inJezreel. 2And the lords of the Philistines passedin review by hundreds and by thousands, butDavid and his men passed in review at the rearwith Achish. 3Then the princes of the Philistinessaid, “What are these Hebrews doing here?”

And Achish said to the princes of thePhilistines, “Is this not David, the servant ofSaul king of Israel, who has been with me thesedays, or these years? And to this day I havefound no fault in him since he defected to me.”

4But the princes of the Philistines were angrywith him; so the princes of the Philistines saidto him, “Make this fellow return, that he maygo back to the place which you have appoint-ed for him, and do not let him go down with usto battle, lest in the battle he become ouradversary. For with what could he reconcilehimself to his master, if not with the heads ofthese men? 5Is this not David, of whom theysang to one another in dances, saying:

‘Saul has slain his thousands,And David his ten thousands’?”

6Then Achish called David and said to him,

“Surely, as the LORD lives, you have beenupright, and your going out and your comingin with me in the army is good in my sight. Forto this day I have not found evil in you sincethe day of your coming to me. Neverthelessthe lords do not favor you. 7Therefore returnnow, and go in peace, that you may not dis-please the lords of the Philistines.”

8So David said to Achish, “But what have Idone? And to this day what have you found inyour servant as long as I have been with you,that I may not go and fight against the ene-mies of my lord the king?”

9Then Achish answered and said to David,“I know that you are as good in my sight as anangel of God; nevertheless the princes of thePhilistines have said, ‘He shall not go up withus to the battle.’ 10Now therefore, rise early inthe morning with your master’s servants whohave come with you. And as soon as you are upearly in the morning and have light, depart.”

11So David and his men rose early to departin the morning, to return to the land of thePhilistines. And the Philistines went up toJezreel.

30 Now it happened, when David and hismen came to Ziklag, on the third day,

that the Amalekites had invaded the South andZiklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,2and had taken captive the women and thosewho were there, from small to great; they didnot kill anyone, but carried them away andwent their way. 3So David and his men came to

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In John 3:3, Jesus answered a question that Nicodemus does not even ask. He read Nicodemus’sheart and came to the very core of his problem, i.e., the need for spiritual transformation or regen-eration produced by the Holy Spirit. He tells Nicodemus that he must be “born again.” The phraseliterally means “born from above.”New birth is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to thebeliever (2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18). Chapter 1:12,13 indicates that“born again” also carries the idea “to become children of God” through trust in the name of theincarnate Word.

Unless one is born again, he “cannot see the kingdom of God.” In context, this is primarily a ref-erence to participation in the millennial kingdom at the end of the age, fervently anticipated by thePharisees and other Jews. Since the Pharisees were supernaturalists, they naturally and eagerlyexpected the coming of the prophesied resurrection of the saints and institution of the messianickingdom (Is. 11:1–16; Dan. 12:2). Their problem was that they thought that mere physical lineageand keeping of religious externals qualified them for entrance into the kingdom rather than theneeded spiritual transformation which Jesus emphasized (see 8:33–39; Gal. 6:15).The coming of thekingdom at the end of the age can be described as the “regeneration”of the world (Matt. 19:28), butregeneration of the individual is required before the end of the world in order to enter the kingdom.

Restating it, Jesus said that one must be “born of water and the Spirit” (v. 5). Jesus referred notto literal water here but to the need for “cleansing” (Ezek. 36:24–27). When water is used figurativelyin the Old Testament, it consistently refers to renewal or spiritual cleansing, especially when used inconjunction with “spirit” (Num. 19:17–19; Ps. 51:9,10; Is. 32:15; 44:3–5; 55:1–3; Jer. 2:13; Joel 2:28,29).Thus, Jesus made reference to the spiritual washing or purification of the soul, accomplished by theHoly Spirit through the Word of God at the moment of salvation (Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5), required forbelonging to His kingdom.

DAY 13: What does it mean to be “born again”?


the city, and there it was, burned with fire; andtheir wives, their sons, and their daughters hadbeen taken captive. 4Then David and the peo-ple who were with him lifted up their voices andwept, until they had no more power to weep.5And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreel-itess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal theCarmelite, had been taken captive. 6Now Davidwas greatly distressed, for the people spoke ofstoning him, because the soul of all the peoplewas grieved, every man for his sons and hisdaughters. But David strengthened himself inthe LORD his God.

7Then David said to Abiathar the priest,Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephodhere to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephodto David. 8So David inquired of the LORD, say-ing, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtakethem?”

And He answered him, “Pursue, for youshall surely overtake them and without failrecover all.”

9So David went, he and the six hundredmen who were with him, and came to theBrook Besor, where those stayed who wereleft behind. 10But David pursued, he and fourhundred men; for two hundred stayed behind,who were so weary that they could not crossthe Brook Besor.

11Then they found an Egyptian in the field,and brought him to David; and they gave himbread and he ate, and they let him drink water.12And they gave him a piece of a cake of figsand two clusters of raisins. So when he hadeaten, his strength came back to him; for hehad eaten no bread nor drunk water for threedays and three nights. 13Then David said tohim, “To whom do you belong, and where areyou from?”

And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt,servant of an Amalekite; and my master leftme behind, because three days ago I fell sick.

14We made an invasion of the southern area ofthe Cherethites, in the territory which belongsto Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb;and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

15And David said to him, “Can you take medown to this troop?”

So he said, “Swear to me by God that youwill neither kill me nor deliver me into thehands of my master, and I will take you downto this troop.”

16And when he had brought him down, therethey were, spread out over all the land, eatingand drinking and dancing, because of all thegreat spoil which they had taken from the landof the Philistines and from the land of Judah.17Then David attacked them from twilight untilthe evening of the next day. Not a man of themescaped, except four hundred young men whorode on camels and fled. 18So David recoveredall that the Amalekites had carried away, andDavid rescued his two wives. 19And nothing oftheirs was lacking, either small or great, sonsor daughters, spoil or anything which theyhad taken from them; David recovered all.20Then David took all the flocks and herdsthey had driven before those other livestock,and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

21Now David came to the two hundred menwho had been so weary that they could not fol-low David, whom they also had made to stay atthe Brook Besor. So they went out to meet Da-vid and to meet the people who were with him.And when David came near the people, hegreeted them. 22Then all the wicked andworthless men of those who went with Davidanswered and said, “Because they did not gowith us, we will not give them any of the spoilthat we have recovered, except for everyman’s wife and children, that they may leadthem away and depart.”

23But David said, “My brethren, you shallnot do so with what the LORD has given us,who has preserved us and delivered into ourhand the troop that came against us. 24For whowill heed you in this matter? But as his part iswho goes down to the battle, so shall his partbe who stays by the supplies; they shall share

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30:6 distressed…grieved. Arriving home tothe reality of their great tragedy caused Davidimmense distress and provoked the wicked-ness of his men to entertain the treasonousidea of stoning him. Having not inquired ofthe Lord before his departure to supportAchish in battle, David was in need of God’sgetting his attention. strengthened himselfin the LORD his God. This was the key toDavid’s being a man after God’s heart (1 Sam.13:14; Acts 13:22).

30:19 nothing…was lacking. In spite ofDavid’s previous failures, God showed Himselfto be more than gracious and abundant in Hisstewardship of the wives, children, livestock,and possessions of David and his men.


alike.” 25So it was, from that day forward; hemade it a statute and an ordinance for Israel tothis day.

26Now when David came to Ziklag, he sentsome of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to hisfriends, saying, “Here is a present for youfrom the spoil of the enemies of the LORD”—27to those who were in Bethel, those who were inRamoth of the South, those who were in Jattir,28those who were in Aroer, those who were inSiphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, 29thosewho were in Rachal, those who were in thecities of the Jerahmeelites, those who were in thecities of the Kenites, 30those who were inHormah, those who were in Chorashan, thosewho were in Athach, 31those who were in Hebron,and to all the places where David himself andhis men were accustomed to rove.

31 Now the Philistines fought againstIsrael; and the men of Israel fled from

before the Philistines, and fell slain on MountGilboa. 2Then the Philistines followed hardafter Saul and his sons. And the Philistineskilled Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua,Saul’s sons. 3The battle became fierce againstSaul. The archers hit him, and he was severe-ly wounded by the archers.

4Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Drawyour sword, and thrust me through with it,lest these uncircumcised men come andthrust me through and abuse me.”

But his armorbearer would not, for he wasgreatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a swordand fell on it. 5And when his armorbearer sawthat Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword,

and died with him. 6So Saul, his three sons, hisarmorbearer, and all his men died togetherthat same day.

7And when the men of Israel who were onthe other side of the valley, and those who wereon the other side of the Jordan, saw that themen of Israel had fled and that Saul and hissons were dead, they forsook the cities andfled; and the Philistines came and dwelt inthem. 8So it happened the next day, when thePhilistines came to strip the slain, that theyfound Saul and his three sons fallen on MountGilboa. 9And they cut off his head and strippedoff his armor, and sent word throughout theland of the Philistines, to proclaim it in thetemple of their idols and among the people.10Then they put his armor in the temple of theAshtoreths, and they fastened his body to thewall of Beth Shan.

11Now when the inhabitants of JabeshGilead heard what the Philistines had done toSaul, 12all the valiant men arose and traveledall night, and took the body of Saul and thebodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan;and they came to Jabesh and burned themthere. 13Then they took their bones and buriedthem under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, andfasted seven days.

Psalm 61:5–85 For You, O God, have heard

my vows;You have given me the heritage of

those who fear Your name.6 You will prolong the king’s life,

His years as many generations.7 He shall abide before God forever.

Oh, prepare mercy and truth, whichmay preserve him!

8 So I will sing praise to Your nameforever,

That I may daily perform my vows.

Proverbs 16:7–97 When a man’s ways please

the LORD,He makes even his enemies

to be at peace with him.

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31:4 uncircumcised men. A common term ofderision used among Israelites to designatenon-Israelites. Circumcision was given as thesign of the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis17:10–14. abuse. Having engaged in severalbattles against the Philistines, Saul had suc-ceeded in provoking their hatred and resent-ment. As the king, Saul would certainly havereceived especially cruel treatment from thehands of his enemies, who would have likelymade sport of him and tortured him beforehis death. Saul took a sword and fell on it.Though Saul’s suicide is considered by someto be an act of heroism, Saul should havefound his strength and courage in God asDavid did in 23:16 and 30:6 to fight to the endor to surrender. Saul’s suicide is the ultimateexpression of his faithlessness toward God atthis moment in his life.

61:7 forever. The Davidic Covenant guaranteedthat on the basis of God’s merciful and faithfuldealings with David and the nation, David’sdescendants would rule on the throne of Israelforever (2 Sam. 7; Pss. 40:11; 89:4,33–37).


8 Better is a little with righteousness,Than vast revenues without justice.

9 A man’s heart plans his way,But the LORD directs his steps.

John 3:19–3619And this is the condemnation, that the lighthas come into the world, and men loved dark-ness rather than light, because their deedswere evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hatesthe light and does not come to the light, lesthis deeds should be exposed. 21But he whodoes the truth comes to the light, that hisdeeds may be clearly seen, that they havebeen done in God.”

22After these things Jesus and His disci-ples came into the land of Judea, and thereHe remained with them and baptized. 23NowJohn also was baptizing in Aenon nearSalim, because there was much water there.And they came and were baptized. 24For

John had not yet been thrown into prison.25Then there arose a dispute between some

of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifi-cation. 26And they came to John and said tohim, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond theJordan, to whom you have testified—behold,He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”

27John answered and said, “A man canreceive nothing unless it has been given to himfrom heaven. 28You yourselves bear me wit-ness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘Ihave been sent before Him.’ 29He who has thebride is the bridegroom; but the friend of thebridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoic-es greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30He mustincrease, but I must decrease. 31He who comesfrom above is above all; he who is of the earthis earthly and speaks of the earth. He whocomes from heaven is above all. 32And what Hehas seen and heard, that He testifies; and noone receives His testimony. 33He who hasreceived His testimony has certified that Godis true. 34For He whom God has sent speaksthe words of God, for God does not give theSpirit by measure. 35The Father loves the Son,and has given all things into His hand. 36Hewho believes in the Son has everlasting life;and he who does not believe the Son shall notsee life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

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16:9 Sovereign God overrules the plans ofmen to fulfill His purposes. (See Gen. 50:20;1 Kin. 12:15; Ps. 119:133; Jer. 10:23; Dan.5:23–30; 1 Cor. 3:19,20.)

The potential conflict between John and Jesus as depicted in John 3:26 was heightened bythe fact that both were engaged in ministry in close proximity to each other. Because baptism ismentioned in v. 22, Jesus may have been close to Jericho near the fords of the Jordan, while Johnwas a short distance north baptizing at Aenon. John’s followers were especially disturbed by thefact that so many were flocking to Jesus whereas formerly they had come to John.

John’s response was to emphasize God’s sovereign authority in granting any ministry oppor-tunity (v. 27). It must be “given to him from heaven.”And he conveyed his understanding of his ownrole through the use of a parable (v. 29). The “friend of the bridegroom” was the ancient equivalentof the best man who organized the details and presided over the Judean wedding. This friendfound his greatest joy in watching the ceremony proceed without problems. Most likely, John wasalso alluding to Old Testament passages where faithful Israel is depicted as the bride of the Lord (Is.62:4,5; Jer. 2:2; Hos. 2:16–20).

In vv. 31–36, John the Baptist gave 5 reasons for Christ’s superiority to him: 1) Christ had aheavenly origin (v. 31); 2) Christ knew what was true by firsthand experience (v. 32); 3) Christ’s tes-timony always agreed with God (v. 33); 4) Christ experienced the Holy Spirit in an unlimited man-ner (v. 34); and 5) Christ was supreme because the Father sovereignly had granted that status toHim (v. 35).

In a fitting climax to the chapter (v. 36), John the Baptist laid out two alternatives, genuine faithand defiant disobedience, thereby bringing to the forefront the threat of looming judgment. AsJohn faded from the forefront, he offered an invitation to faith in the Son and clearly expressed theultimate consequence of failure to believe, i.e.,“the wrath of God.”

DAY 14: How did John the Baptist respond to the growing ministry of Christ?


May 15

2 Samuel 1:1–2:32

1 Now it came to pass after the death of Saul,when David had returned from the slaugh-

ter of the Amalekites, and David had stayedtwo days in Ziklag, 2on the third day, behold, ithappened that a man came from Saul’s campwith his clothes torn and dust on his head. Soit was, when he came to David, that he fell tothe ground and prostrated himself.

3And David said to him, “Where have youcome from?”

So he said to him, “I have escaped from thecamp of Israel.”

4Then David said to him, “How did the mat-ter go? Please tell me.”

And he answered, “The people have fledfrom the battle, many of the people are fallenand dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son aredead also.”

5So David said to the young man who toldhim, “How do you know that Saul and Jona-than his son are dead?”

6Then the young man who told him said,“As I happened by chance to be on MountGilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear;and indeed the chariots and horsemen fol-lowed hard after him. 7Now when he lookedbehind him, he saw me and called to me. AndI answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8And he said to me,‘Who are you?’ So I answered him, ‘I am anAmalekite.’ 9He said to me again, ‘Please standover me and kill me, for anguish has comeupon me, but my life still remains in me.’ 10So Istood over him and killed him, because I wassure that he could not live after he had fallen.And I took the crown that was on his head and

the bracelet that was on his arm, and havebrought them here to my lord.”

11Therefore David took hold of his ownclothes and tore them, and so did all the menwho were with him. 12And they mourned andwept and fasted until evening for Saul and forJonathan his son, for the people of the LORDand for the house of Israel, because they hadfallen by the sword.

13Then David said to the young man whotold him, “Where are you from?”

And he answered, “I am the son of an alien,an Amalekite.”

14So David said to him, “How was it you werenot afraid to put forth your hand to destroy theLORD’s anointed?” 15Then David called one of theyoung men and said, “Go near, and executehim!” And he struck him so that he died. 16SoDavid said to him, “Your blood is on your ownhead, for your own mouth has testified againstyou, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ”

17Then David lamented with this lamenta-tion over Saul and over Jonathan his son, 18andhe told them to teach the children of Judah theSong of the Bow; indeed it is written in theBook of Jasher:

19 “The beauty of Israel is slain on yourhigh places!

How the mighty have fallen!20 Tell it not in Gath,

Proclaim it not in the streets ofAshkelon—

Lest the daughters of the Philistinesrejoice,

Lest the daughters of the uncircumcisedtriumph.

21 “O mountains of Gilboa,Let there be no dew nor rain upon you,Nor fields of offerings.For the shield of the mighty is cast

away there!The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

22 From the blood of the slain,From the fat of the mighty,The bow of Jonathan did not turn

back,And the sword of Saul did not return

empty.23 “Saul and Jonathan were beloved and

pleasant in their lives,And in their death they were not

divided;They were swifter than eagles,They were stronger than lions.

24 “O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury;

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1:19 The beauty of Israel. Literally, thegazelle or antelope of Israel, the chosen sym-bol of youthful elegance and symmetry, mostlikely referring to Jonathan. Thus, the songbegan and ended with Saul’s noble son (vv.25,26). high places. These were open-air wor-ship sites generally established at high eleva-tions. In this case, the high place was Mt. Gilboa,where Saul had died. How the mighty havefallen! They were not only Israel’s slain “beauty,”but Saul and Jonathan were mighty men whohad fallen in battle. This phrase is repeated asa refrain in vv. 25 and 27.


Who put ornaments of gold on yourapparel.

25 “How the mighty have fallen in themidst of the battle!

Jonathan was slain in your high places.26 I am distressed for you, my brother

Jonathan;You have been very pleasant to me;Your love to me was wonderful,Surpassing the love of women.

27 “How the mighty have fallen,And the weapons of war perished!”

2 It happened after this that David inquiredof the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up to any

of the cities of Judah?”And the LORD said to him, “Go up.”David said, “Where shall I go up?”And He said, “To Hebron.”2So David went up there, and his two wives

also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail thewidow of Nabal the Carmelite. 3And Davidbrought up the men who were with him, everyman with his household. So they dwelt in thecities of Hebron.

4Then the men of Judah came, and therethey anointed David king over the house of Ju-dah. And they told David, saying, “The men ofJabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul.”5So David sent messengers to the men ofJabesh Gilead, and said to them, “You areblessed of the LORD, for you have shown thiskindness to your lord, to Saul, and have buriedhim. 6And now may the LORD show kindnessand truth to you. I also will repay you thiskindness, because you have done this thing.7Now therefore, let your hands be strength-ened, and be valiant; for your master Saul isdead, and also the house of Judah has anoint-ed me king over them.”

8But Abner the son of Ner, commander ofSaul’s army, took Ishbosheth the son of Sauland brought him over to Mahanaim; 9and hemade him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites,

over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin,and over all Israel. 10Ishbosheth, Saul’s son,was forty years old when he began to reignover Israel, and he reigned two years. Onlythe house of Judah followed David. 11And thetime that David was king in Hebron over thehouse of Judah was seven years and sixmonths.

12Now Abner the son of Ner, and the ser-vants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went outfrom Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13And Joab the sonof Zeruiah, and the servants of David, wentout and met them by the pool of Gibeon. Sothey sat down, one on one side of the pool andthe other on the other side of the pool. 14ThenAbner said to Joab, “Let the young men nowarise and compete before us.”

And Joab said, “Let them arise.”15So they arose and went over by number,

twelve from Benjamin, followers of Ishbosheththe son of Saul, and twelve from the servantsof David. 16And each one grasped his opponentby the head and thrust his sword in his oppo-nent’s side; so they fell down together.Therefore that place was called the Field ofSharp Swords, which is in Gibeon. 17So therewas a very fierce battle that day, and Abnerand the men of Israel were beaten before theservants of David.

18Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there:Joab and Abishai and Asahel. And Asahel was asfleet of foot as a wild gazelle. 19So Asahel pur-sued Abner, and in going he did not turn to theright hand or to the left from following Abner.

20Then Abner looked behind him and said,“Are you Asahel?”

He answered, “I am.”21And Abner said to him, “Turn aside to your

right hand or to your left, and lay hold on oneof the young men and take his armor for your-self.” But Asahel would not turn aside fromfollowing him. 22So Abner said again to Asahel,“Turn aside from following me. Why should Istrike you to the ground? How then could Iface your brother Joab?” 23However, herefused to turn aside. Therefore Abner struckhim in the stomach with the blunt end of thespear, so that the spear came out of his back;and he fell down there and died on the spot.So it was that as many as came to the placewhere Asahel fell down and died, stood still.

24Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner. Andthe sun was going down when they came tothe hill of Ammah, which is before Giah by theroad to the Wilderness of Gibeon. 25Now thechildren of Benjamin gathered togetherbehind Abner and became a unit, and tooktheir stand on top of a hill. 26Then Abner called

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2:4 anointed David king. David had alreadybeen privately anointed king by Samuel(1 Sam. 16:3). This anointing recognized hisrule in the southern area of Judah. Later hewould be anointed as king over all Israel (2Sam. 5:3). men of Jabesh Gilead. Jabesh, a cityof Israel east of the Jordan, demonstrated itsloyalty to Saul by giving him a proper burial (1Sam. 31:11–13).


to Joab and said, “Shall the sword devour for-ever? Do you not know that it will be bitter inthe latter end? How long will it be then untilyou tell the people to return from pursuingtheir brethren?”

27And Joab said, “As God lives, unless you hadspoken, surely then by morning all the peoplewould have given up pursuing their brethren.”28So Joab blew a trumpet; and all the peoplestood still and did not pursue Israel anymore,nor did they fight anymore. 29Then Abner andhis men went on all that night through the plain,crossed over the Jordan, and went through allBithron; and they came to Mahanaim.

30So Joab returned from pursuing Abner.And when he had gathered all the peopletogether, there were missing of David’s ser-vants nineteen men and Asahel. 31But the ser-vants of David had struck down, of Benjaminand Abner’s men, three hundred and sixtymen who died. 32Then they took up Asahel andburied him in his father’s tomb, which was inBethlehem. And Joab and his men went allnight, and they came to Hebron at daybreak.

Psalm 62:1–4

To the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

T ruly my soul silently waitsfor God;

From Him comes my salvation.2 He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense;I shall not be greatly moved.

3 How long will you attack a man?You shall be slain, all of you,Like a leaning wall and a tottering

fence.4 They only consult to cast him down

from his high position;They delight in lies;They bless with their mouth,But they curse inwardly. Selah

Proverbs 16:10–1210 Divination is on the lips

of the king;His mouth must not transgress in

judgment.11 Honest weights and scales are the

LORD’s;All the weights in the bag are His

work.12 It is an abomination for kings to

commit wickedness,For a throne is established by

righteousness.

John 4:1–30

4 Therefore, when the Lord knew that thePharisees had heard that Jesus made and

baptized more disciples than John 2(though Je-sus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),3He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.4But He needed to go through Samaria.

5So He came to a city of Samaria which iscalled Sychar, near the plot of ground that Ja-cob gave to his son Joseph. 6Now Jacob’s wellwas there. Jesus therefore, being weariedfrom His journey, sat thus by the well. It wasabout the sixth hour.

7A woman of Samaria came to draw water.Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8For Hisdisciples had gone away into the city to buyfood.

9Then the woman of Samaria said to Him,“How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drinkfrom me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews haveno dealings with Samaritans.

10Jesus answered and said to her, “If youknew the gift of God, and who it is who says toyou, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have askedHim, and He would have given you living water.”

11The woman said to Him, “Sir, You havenothing to draw with, and the well is deep.

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4:4 Samaria. When the nation of Israel splitpolitically after Solomon’s rule, King Omrinamed the capital of the northern kingdom ofIsrael “Samaria” (1 Kin. 16:24). The name even-tually referred to the entire district and some-times to the entire northern kingdom, whichhad been taken captive (capital, Samaria) byAssyria in 722 B.C. (2 Kin. 17:1–6). While Assyrialed most of the populace of the 10 northerntribes away (into the region which today isnorthern Iraq), it left a sizable population ofJews in the northern Samaritan region andtransported many non-Jews into Samaria.These groups intermingled to form a mixedrace through intermarriage. Eventually tensiondeveloped between the Jews who returnedfrom captivity and the Samaritans. TheSamaritans withdrew from the worship ofYahweh at Jerusalem and established theirworship at Mt. Gerizim in Samaria (vv. 20–22).Samaritans regarded only the Pentateuch asauthoritative. As a result of this history, Jewsrepudiated Samaritans and considered themheretical. Intense ethnic and cultural tensionsraged historically between the two groups sothat both avoided contact as much as possible(v. 9; Ezra 4:1–24; Neh. 4:1–6; Luke 10:25–37).


Where then do You get that living water? 12AreYou greater than our father Jacob, who gaveus the well, and drank from it himself, as wellas his sons and his livestock?”

13Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoeverdrinks of this water will thirst again, 14but who-ever drinks of the water that I shall give him willnever thirst. But the water that I shall give himwill become in him a fountain of water springingup into everlasting life.”

15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me thiswater, that I may not thirst, nor come here todraw.”

16Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband,and come here.”

17The woman answered and said, “I have nohusband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘Ihave no husband,’ 18for you have had five hus-bands, and the one whom you now have is notyour husband; in that you spoke truly.”

19The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive thatYou are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped onthis mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusa-lem is the place where one ought to worship.”

21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, thehour is coming when you will neither on thismountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship theFather. 22You worship what you do not know;we know what we worship, for salvation is ofthe Jews. 23But the hour is coming, and now is,when the true worshipers will worship theFather in spirit and truth; for the Father isseeking such to worship Him. 24God is Spirit,and those who worship Him must worship inspirit and truth.”

25The woman said to Him, “I know that Mes-siah is coming” (who is called Christ). “WhenHe comes, He will tell us all things.”

26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you amHe.”

27And at this point His disciples came, andthey marveled that He talked with a woman;yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Whyare You talking with her?”

28The woman then left her waterpot, wenther way into the city, and said to the men,29“Come, see a Man who told me all things thatI ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30Thenthey went out of the city and came to Him.

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4:10 living water. The Old Testament is thebackground for this term, which has importantmetaphorical significance. In Jeremiah 2:13,Yahweh decries the disobedient Jews forrejecting Him, the “fountain of living waters.”The Old Testament prophets looked forwardto a time when “living waters shall flow fromJerusalem” (Zech. 14:8; Ezek. 47:9). The OldTestament metaphor spoke of the knowledgeof God and His grace which provides cleansing,spiritual life, and the transforming power ofthe Holy Spirit (Is. 1:16–18; 12:3; 44:3; Ezek.36:25–27). John applies these themes to JesusChrist as the living water which is symbolic ofeternal life mediated by the Holy Spirit fromHim (v. 14; 6:35; 7:37–39). Jesus used thewoman’s need for physical water to sustain lifein this arid region in order to serve as an objectlesson for her need for spiritual transformation.

In His conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4:24, Jesus reminded her that “God isSpirit.” This verse represents the classical statement on the nature of God as Spirit. The phrasemeans that God is invisible (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27) as opposed to the physical or materialnature of man (1:18; 3:6). The word order of this phrase puts an emphasis on “Spirit,” and the state-ment is essentially emphatic. Man could never comprehend the invisible God unless He revealedHimself, as He did in Scripture and the Incarnation.

“Must worship.” Jesus is not speaking of a desirable element in worship but that which isabsolutely necessary. “In spirit and truth.” The word “spirit” does not refer to the Holy Spirit but tothe human spirit. Jesus’ point here is that a person must worship not simply by external conformityto religious rituals and places (outwardly) but inwardly (“in spirit”) with the proper heart attitude.Thereference to “truth” refers to worship of God consistent with the revealed Scripture and centered onthe “Word made flesh” who ultimately revealed His Father (14:6).

The Samaritans also anticipated Messiah’s coming.The Samaritan woman responded, pushingtoward the future.“I who speak to you am He”—Jesus forthrightly declared Himself to be Messiah,though His habit was to avoid such declarations to His own Jewish people, who had such crasslypolitical and militaristic views regarding Messiah (10:24; Mark 9:41).The “He”in this translation is notin the original Greek for Jesus literally said “I who speak to you am.”The usage of “I am”is reminiscentof 8:58. This claim constitutes the main point of the story regarding the Samaritan woman, uponwhich all worship is centered.

DAY 15: What aspect of worship toward God is absolutely essential?


May 16

2 Samuel 3:1–4:12

3 Now there was a long war between thehouse of Saul and the house of David. But

David grew stronger and stronger, and thehouse of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

2Sons were born to David in Hebron: His first-born was Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;3his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow ofNabal the Carmelite; the third, Absalom theson of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king ofGeshur; 4the fourth, Adonijah the son ofHaggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;5and the sixth, Ithream, by David’s wife Eglah.These were born to David in Hebron.

6Now it was so, while there was warbetween the house of Saul and the house ofDavid, that Abner was strengthening his holdon the house of Saul.

7And Saul had a concubine, whose name wasRizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishboshethsaid to Abner, “Why have you gone in to myfather’s concubine?”

8Then Abner became very angry at thewords of Ishbosheth, and said, “Am I a dog’shead that belongs to Judah? Today I show loy-alty to the house of Saul your father, to hisbrothers, and to his friends, and have notdelivered you into the hand of David; and youcharge me today with a fault concerning thiswoman? 9May God do so to Abner, and morealso, if I do not do for David as the LORD hassworn to him— 10to transfer the kingdom fromthe house of Saul, and set up the throne of Da-vid over Israel and over Judah, from Dan toBeersheba.” 11And he could not answer Abneranother word, because he feared him.

12Then Abner sent messengers on his behalfto David, saying, “Whose is the land?” sayingalso, “Make your covenant with me, andindeed my hand shall be with you to bring allIsrael to you.”

13And David said, “Good, I will make acovenant with you. But one thing I require ofyou: you shall not see my face unless you firstbring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when youcome to see my face.” 14So David sent mes-sengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying,“Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothedto myself for a hundred foreskins of thePhilistines.” 15And Ishbosheth sent and tookher from her husband, from Paltiel the son ofLaish. 16Then her husband went along with herto Bahurim, weeping behind her. So Abner

said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned.17Now Abner had communicated with the

elders of Israel, saying, “In time past you wereseeking for David to be king over you. 18Nowthen, do it! For the LORD has spoken of David,saying, ‘By the hand of My servant David, Iwill save My people Israel from the hand ofthe Philistines and the hand of all their ene-mies.’ ” 19And Abner also spoke in the hearingof Benjamin. Then Abner also went to speak inthe hearing of David in Hebron all thatseemed good to Israel and the whole house ofBenjamin.

20So Abner and twenty men with him cameto David at Hebron. And David made a feastfor Abner and the men who were with him.21Then Abner said to David, “I will arise andgo, and gather all Israel to my lord the king,that they may make a covenant with you, andthat you may reign over all that your heartdesires.” So David sent Abner away, and hewent in peace.

22At that moment the servants of David andJoab came from a raid and brought much spoilwith them. But Abner was not with David inHebron, for he had sent him away, and he hadgone in peace. 23When Joab and all the troopsthat were with him had come, they told Joab,saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to theking, and he sent him away, and he has gonein peace.” 24Then Joab came to the king andsaid, “What have you done? Look, Abner cameto you; why is it that you sent him away, and hehas already gone? 25Surely you realize thatAbner the son of Ner came to deceive you, toknow your going out and your coming in, andto know all that you are doing.”

26And when Joab had gone from David’spresence, he sent messengers after Abner,who brought him back from the well of Sirah.But David did not know it. 27Now when Abnerhad returned to Hebron, Joab took him asidein the gate to speak with him privately, andthere stabbed him in the stomach, so that hedied for the blood of Asahel his brother.

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3:25 Abner…came to deceive you. It is ironicthat Joab accused Abner of deception in spy-ing on David in v. 25 when in v. 26 he deceivedDavid by not telling him of his request to haveAbner returned to Hebron. Joab used thisdeception to slay Abner out of personalvengeance for the death of his brother Asahel(v. 27; 2:19–23).


28Afterward, when David heard it, he said,“My kingdom and I are guiltless before theLORD forever of the blood of Abner the son ofNer. 29Let it rest on the head of Joab and on allhis father’s house; and let there never fail tobe in the house of Joab one who has a dis-charge or is a leper, who leans on a staff orfalls by the sword, or who lacks bread.” 30SoJoab and Abishai his brother killed Abner,because he had killed their brother Asahel atGibeon in the battle.

31Then David said to Joab and to all the peo-ple who were with him, “Tear your clothes,gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn forAbner.” And King David followed the coffin.32So they buried Abner in Hebron; and theking lifted up his voice and wept at the graveof Abner, and all the people wept. 33And theking sang a lament over Abner and said:

“Should Abner die as a fool dies?34 Your hands were not bound

Nor your feet put into fetters;As a man falls before wicked men,

so you fell.”

Then all the people wept over him again.35And when all the people came to persuade

David to eat food while it was still day, Davidtook an oath, saying, “God do so to me, andmore also, if I taste bread or anything else tillthe sun goes down!” 36Now all the people tooknote of it, and it pleased them, since whateverthe king did pleased all the people. 37For all thepeople and all Israel understood that day thatit had not been the king’s intent to kill Abnerthe son of Ner. 38Then the king said to his ser-vants, “Do you not know that a prince and agreat man has fallen this day in Israel? 39And Iam weak today, though anointed king; andthese men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too harshfor me. The LORD shall repay the evildoeraccording to his wickedness.”

4 When Saul’s son heard that Abner haddied in Hebron, he lost heart, and all Is-

rael was troubled. 2Now Saul’s son had twomen who were captains of troops. The name ofone was Baanah and the name of the otherRechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, ofthe children of Benjamin. (For Beeroth alsowas part of Benjamin, 3because the Beerothitesfled to Gittaim and have been sojourners thereuntil this day.)

4Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lamein his feet. He was five years old when the newsabout Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; andhis nurse took him up and fled. And it hap-pened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell andbecame lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

5Then the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite,Rechab and Baanah, set out and came at aboutthe heat of the day to the house of Ishbosheth,who was lying on his bed at noon. 6And theycame there, all the way into the house, asthough to get wheat, and they stabbed him inthe stomach. Then Rechab and Baanah hisbrother escaped. 7For when they came into thehouse, he was lying on his bed in his bedroom;then they struck him and killed him, beheadedhim and took his head, and were all nightescaping through the plain. 8And they broughtthe head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron,and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, whosought your life; and the LORD has avengedmy lord the king this day of Saul and hisdescendants.”

9But David answered Rechab and Baanahhis brother, the sons of Rimmon theBeerothite, and said to them, “As the LORDlives, who has redeemed my life from alladversity, 10when someone told me, saying,‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have broughtgood news, I arrested him and had him exe-cuted in Ziklag—the one who thought I wouldgive him a reward for his news. 11How muchmore, when wicked men have killed a righ-teous person in his own house on his bed?Therefore, shall I not now require his blood atyour hand and remove you from the earth?”12So David commanded his young men, andthey executed them, cut off their hands andfeet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron.But they took the head of Ishbosheth andburied it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

Psalm 62:5–125 My soul, wait silently for God alone,

For my expectation is from Him.6 He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense;I shall not be moved.

7 In God is my salvation and my glory;The rock of my strength,And my refuge, is in God.

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4:4 Mephibosheth. He may be introducedhere to demonstrate that his youth and physi-cal handicap disqualified him from being con-sidered for ruling Israel. He would have beenonly 12 years old at the time of Ishbosheth’sdeath. For the history of this man, see 9:6–13;16:1–4; 19:24–30; 21:7.


8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;Pour out your heart before Him;God is a refuge for us. Selah

9 Surely men of low degree are a vapor,Men of high degree are a lie;If they are weighed on the scales,They are altogether lighter than vapor.

10 Do not trust in oppression,Nor vainly hope in robbery;If riches increase,Do not set your heart on them.

11 God has spoken once,Twice I have heard this:That power belongs to God.

12 Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy;For You render to each one according

to his work.

Proverbs 16:13–1513 Righteous lips are the delight of kings,

And they love him who speaks what isright.

14 As messengers of death is the king’swrath,

But a wise man will appease it.15 In the light of the king’s face is life,

And his favor is like a cloud of thelatter rain.

John 4:31–5431In the meantime His disciples urged Him,

saying, “Rabbi, eat.”32But He said to them, “I have food to eat of

which you do not know.”33Therefore the disciples said to one another,

“Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the

will of Him who sent Me, and to finish Hiswork. 35Do you not say, ‘There are still fourmonths and then comes the harvest’? Behold,I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at thefields, for they are already white for harvest!36And he who reaps receives wages, and gath-ers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sowsand he who reaps may rejoice together. 37For inthis the saying is true: ‘One sows and anotherreaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you

have not labored; others have labored, and youhave entered into their labors.”

39And many of the Samaritans of that citybelieved in Him because of the word of thewoman who testified, “He told me all that I everdid.” 40So when the Samaritans had come toHim, they urged Him to stay with them; andHe stayed there two days. 41And many morebelieved because of His own word.

42Then they said to the woman, “Now we be-lieve, not because of what you said, for we our-selves have heard Him and we know that thisis indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

43Now after the two days He departed fromthere and went to Galilee. 44For Jesus Himselftestified that a prophet has no honor in hisown country. 45So when He came to Galilee,the Galileans received Him, having seen allthe things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; forthey also had gone to the feast.

46So Jesus came again to Cana of Galileewhere He had made the water wine. And therewas a certain nobleman whose son was sick atCapernaum. 47When he heard that Jesus hadcome out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Himand implored Him to come down and heal Hisson, for he was at the point of death. 48Then Je-sus said to him, “Unless you people see signsand wonders, you will by no means believe.”

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4:44 prophet has no honor in his own coun-try. This proverb (also in Matt. 13:57; Mark 6:4)contrasts the believing response of theSamaritans (v. 39) with the characteristicunbelief of Jesus’ own people in Galilee (andJudea) whose reticent faith depended somuch on Jesus’ performance of miracles (v.48). While in Samaria, Jesus had enjoyed Hisfirst unqualified and unopposed success. Hisown people’s hearts were not open to Him,but exhibited reluctance and hardness.

4:48 Unless you people see signs and won-ders. The “you” is plural. Jesus addresses thesewords to the Galileans as a whole and not justto the nobleman (vv. 45,46). The response ofthe Galileans was fundamentally flawedbecause it disregarded the person of Christand centered in the need for a constant dis-play of miraculous signs. Such an attitude rep-resents the deepest state of unbelief.

16:15 cloud of the latter rain. The late springrain, which matured the crop, fell before theharvest (2 Sam. 23:3,4; Ps. 72:6) and is herecompared to the king’s power to grace hissubjects with encouragement.


49The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, comedown before my child dies!”

50Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your sonlives.” So the man believed the word that Je-sus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51Andas he was now going down, his servants methim and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”

52Then he inquired of them the hour when

May 17

2 Samuel 5:1–6:23

5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to Davidat Hebron and spoke, saying, “Indeed we

are your bone and your flesh. 2Also, in timepast, when Saul was king over us, you were theone who led Israel out and brought them in;and the LORD said to you, ‘You shall shepherdMy people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.’ ”3Therefore all the elders of Israel came to theking at Hebron, and King David made acovenant with them at Hebron before theLORD. And they anointed David king over Is-rael. 4David was thirty years old when hebegan to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5InHebron he reigned over Judah seven yearsand six months, and in Jerusalem he reignedthirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

6And the king and his men went to Jerusalemagainst the Jebusites, the inhabitants of theland, who spoke to David, saying, “You shallnot come in here; but the blind and the lamewill repel you,” thinking, “David cannot come

in here.” 7Nevertheless David took the strong-hold of Zion (that is, the City of David).

8Now David said on that day, “Whoeverclimbs up by way of the water shaft and defeatsthe Jebusites (the lame and the blind, who arehated by David’s soul), he shall be chief andcaptain.” Therefore they say, “The blind andthe lame shall not come into the house.”

9Then David dwelt in the stronghold, andcalled it the City of David. And David built all

he got better. And they said to him,“Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever lefthim.” 53So the father knew that it was at thesame hour in which Jesus said to him, “Yourson lives.” And he himself believed, and hiswhole household.

54This again is the second sign Jesus didwhen He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

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In the context of the Samaritan woman and village coming to faith in Christ, Jesus spoke of theharvest and the need for workers in John 4:35. Jesus used the fact that they were surrounded bycrops growing in the field and waiting to be harvested as an object lesson to illustrate His urgencyabout reaching the lost, which the “harvest”symbolized.The event probably happened in Decemberor January, which was 4 months before the normal spring harvest (mid-April). Crops were planted inNovember, and by December or January the grain would be sprouting up in vibrant green color.Jesus points out the Samaritan woman and people of Sychar (“lift up your eyes”) who were at thatmoment coming upon the scene (v. 30) looking like a ripened “harvest” that urgently need to be“gathered,” i.e., evangelized.“Already white for harvest.”Their white clothing seen above the growinggrain may have looked like white heads on the stalks, an indication of readiness for harvest. Jesusknew the hearts of all (2:24), so was able to state their readiness for salvation (vv. 39–41).

This episode represents the first instance of cross-cultural evangelism (Acts 1:8). In vv. 36–38,the Lord’s call to His disciples to do the work of evangelism both then and now contains promises ofreward (“wages”), fruit that brings eternal joy (v. 36), and the mutual partnership of shared privilege(vv. 37,38).

When He talked with the Samaritan woman, Jesus was performing the will of the Father andthereby received greater sustenance and satisfaction than any mere physical food could offer Him(v. 34). Obedience to and dependence upon God’s will summed up Jesus’ whole life (Eph. 5:17).Certainly, the same is true for any follower of Christ.

DAY 16: What is a believer’s role in the evangelism of the world?

5:1,2 all the tribes of Israel. The term “all” isused 3 times (vv. 1,3,5) to emphasize that thekingdom established under King David wastruly a united monarchy. The “elders” of Israel(v. 3), representing the “tribes” (v. 1), came toDavid at Hebron with the express purpose ofsubmitting to his rule. Three reasons weregiven by the Israelites for wanting to makeDavid king: 1) he was an Israelite brother(Deut. 17:15); 2) he was Israel’s best warriorand commander; and 3) he had been chosenby the Lord to be the king of Israel.


around from the Millo and inward. 10So Davidwent on and became great, and the LORD Godof hosts was with him.

11Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengersto David, and cedar trees, and carpenters andmasons. And they built David a house. 12So Da-vid knew that the LORD had established him asking over Israel, and that He had exalted Hiskingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

13And David took more concubines andwives from Jerusalem, after he had come fromHebron. Also more sons and daughters wereborn to David. 14Now these are the names ofthose who were born to him in Jerusalem:Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15Ibhar,Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16Elishama, Eliada,and Eliphelet.

17Now when the Philistines heard that theyhad anointed David king over Israel, all thePhilistines went up to search for David. AndDavid heard of it and went down to the strong-hold. 18The Philistines also went and deployedthemselves in the Valley of Rephaim. 19So Da-vid inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go upagainst the Philistines? Will You deliver theminto my hand?”

And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for Iwill doubtless deliver the Philistines into yourhand.”

20So David went to Baal Perazim, and Daviddefeated them there; and he said, “The LORDhas broken through my enemies before me,like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore hecalled the name of that place Baal Perazim.21And they left their images there, and Davidand his men carried them away.

22Then the Philistines went up once againand deployed themselves in the Valley ofRephaim. 23Therefore David inquired of theLORD, and He said, “You shall not go up; circlearound behind them, and come upon them infront of the mulberry trees. 24And it shall be,when you hear the sound of marching in thetops of the mulberry trees, then you shalladvance quickly. For then the LORD will go outbefore you to strike the camp of the Philis-tines.” 25And David did so, as the LORD com-manded him; and he drove back thePhilistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

6 Again David gathered all the choice men ofIsrael, thirty thousand. 2And David arose

and went with all the people who were withhim from Baale Judah to bring up from therethe ark of God, whose name is called by theName, the LORD of Hosts, who dwells betweenthe cherubim. 3So they set the ark of God on anew cart, and brought it out of the house ofAbinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and

Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the newcart. 4And they brought it out of the house ofAbinadab, which was on the hill, accom-panying the ark of God; and Ahio went beforethe ark. 5Then David and all the house of Is-rael played music before the LORD on all kindsof instruments of fir wood, on harps, onstringed instruments, on tambourines, onsistrums, and on cymbals.

6And when they came to Nachon’s thresh-ing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark ofGod and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.7Then the anger of the LORD was arousedagainst Uzzah, and God struck him there forhis error; and he died there by the ark of God.8And David became angry because of theLORD’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he calledthe name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day.

9David was afraid of the LORD that day; andhe said, “How can the ark of the LORD come tome?” 10So David would not move the ark of theLORD with him into the City of David; but Da-vid took it aside into the house of Obed-Edomthe Gittite. 11The ark of the LORD remained inthe house of Obed-Edom the Gittite threemonths. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edomand all his household.

12Now it was told King David, saying, “TheLORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom andall that belongs to him, because of the ark ofGod.” So David went and brought up the arkof God from the house of Obed-Edom to theCity of David with gladness. 13And so it was,when those bearing the ark of the LORD hadgone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fat-ted sheep. 14Then David danced before theLORD with all his might; and David was wear-ing a linen ephod. 15So David and all the houseof Israel brought up the ark of the LORD withshouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

16Now as the ark of the LORD came into theCity of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, lookedthrough a window and saw King David leapingand whirling before the LORD; and she despisedhim in her heart. 17So they brought the ark ofthe LORD, and set it in its place in the midst ofthe tabernacle that David had erected for it.Then David offered burnt offerings and peaceofferings before the LORD. 18And when David hadfinished offering burnt offerings and peace offer-ings, he blessed the people in the name of theLORD of hosts. 19Then he distributed among allthe people, among the whole multitude of Israel,both the women and the men, to everyone a loafof bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. Soall the people departed, everyone to his house.

20Then David returned to bless his house-hold. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out

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to meet David, and said, “How glorious was theking of Israel today, uncovering himself today inthe eyes of the maids of his servants, as one ofthe base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

21So David said to Michal, “It was before theLORD, who chose me instead of your father andall his house, to appoint me ruler over the peo-ple of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I willplay music before the LORD. 22And I will beeven more undignified than this, and will behumble in my own sight. But as for themaidservants of whom you have spoken, bythem I will be held in honor.”

23Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul hadno children to the day of her death.

Psalm 63:1–11

A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, You are my God;Early will I seek You;My soul thirsts for You;My flesh longs for YouIn a dry and thirsty landWhere there is no water.

2 So I have looked for You in thesanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is betterthan life,

My lips shall praise You.4 Thus I will bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.5 My soul shall be satisfied as with

marrow and fatness,And my mouth shall praise You

with joyful lips.6 When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the nightwatches.

7 Because You have been my help,Therefore in the shadow of Your wings

I will rejoice.

8 My soul follows close behind You;Your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,

Shall go into the lower parts of theearth.

10 They shall fall by the sword;They shall be a portion for jackals.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;Everyone who swears by Him shall

glory;But the mouth of those who speak lies

shall be stopped.

Proverbs 16:16–1716 How much better to get wisdom

than gold!And to get understanding is to be

chosen rather than silver.17 The highway of the upright is

to depart from evil;He who keeps his way preserves

his soul.

John 5:1–23

5 After this there was a feast of the Jews,and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now

there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate apool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda,having five porches. 3In these lay a great mul-titude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed,waiting for the moving of the water. 4For anangel went down at a certain time into thepool and stirred up the water; then whoeverstepped in first, after the stirring of the water,was made well of whatever disease he had.5Now a certain man was there who had aninfirmity thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus sawhim lying there, and knew that he already had

483

MAY 17

63:1 Early will I seek You. Eagerness to bewith the Lord in every situation is more inview than the time of day. My soul thirsts.David longs for God’s presence like a wander-er in a desert longs for water. In a dry andthirsty land. David writes this psalm whilehiding in the wilderness of Judea, but longingto be back worshiping in Jerusalem.

5:10,11 The Old Testament had forbiddenwork on the Sabbath but did not stipulatewhat “work” was specifically indicated (Ex.20:8–11). The assumption in Scripture seemsto be that “work”was one’s customary employ-ment, but rabbinical opinion had developedoral tradition beyond the Old Testamentwhich stipulated 39 activities forbidden(Mishnah Shabbath 7:2; 10:5), including carry-ing anything from one domain to another.Thus, the man had broken oral tradition, notOld Testament law.


been in that condition a long time, He said tohim, “Do you want to be made well?”

7The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have noman to put me into the pool when the water isstirred up; but while I am coming, anothersteps down before me.”

8Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bedand walk.” 9And immediately the man wasmade well, took up his bed, and walked.

And that day was the Sabbath. 10The Jewstherefore said to him who was cured, “It is theSabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry yourbed.”

11He answered them, “He who made mewell said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

12Then they asked him, “Who is the Manwho said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

13But the one who was healed did not knowwho it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multi-tude being in that place. 14Afterward Jesusfound him in the temple, and said to him, “See,you have been made well. Sin no more, lest aworse thing come upon you.”

15The man departed and told the Jews that itwas Jesus who had made him well.

16For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus,and sought to kill Him, because He had donethese things on the Sabbath. 17But Jesusanswered them, “My Father has been workinguntil now, and I have been working.”

18Therefore the Jews sought all the more tokill Him, because He not only broke theSabbath, but also said that God was HisFather, making Himself equal with God.19Then Jesus answered and said to them,“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can donothing of Himself, but what He sees theFather do; for whatever He does, the Son alsodoes in like manner. 20For the Father loves theSon, and shows Him all things that He Himselfdoes; and He will show Him greater worksthan these, that you may marvel. 21For as theFather raises the dead and gives life to them,even so the Son gives life to whom He will.22For the Father judges no one, but has com-mitted all judgment to the Son, 23that all shouldhonor the Son just as they honor the Father.He who does not honor the Son does nothonor the Father who sent Him.

484

MAY 17

5:14 Sin no more, lest a worse thing comeupon you. The basic thrust of Jesus’ com-ments here indicates that sin has its inevitableconsequences (Gal. 6:7,8). Although Scripturemakes clear that not all disease is a conse-quence of sin (9:1–3; Luke 13:1–5), illness attimes may be directly tied into one’s moralturpitude (1 Cor. 11:29,30; James 5:15). Jesusmay specifically have chosen this man in orderto highlight this point.

A careful reading of John 5:17–47 reveals the ultimate reason Jesus confronted the Jews’ reli-gious hypocrisy, i.e., the opportunity to declare who He was. This section is Christ’s own personalstatement of His deity. As such, it is one of the greatest Christological discourses in Scripture. HereinJesus makes 5 claims to equality with God: 1) He is equal with God in His person (vv. 17,18); 2) He isequal with God in His works (vv. 19,20); 3) He is equal with God in His power and sovereignty (v. 21);4) He is equal with God in His judgment (v. 22); and 5) He is equal with God in His honor (v. 23).

In v. 17, Jesus’ point is that whether He broke the Sabbath or not, God was working continu-ously and, since Jesus Himself worked continuously, He also must be God. Furthermore, God doesnot need a day of rest for He never wearies (Is. 40:28). For Jesus’ self-defense to be valid, the samefactors that apply to God must also apply to Him. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath! (Matt. 12:8).Interestingly, even the rabbis admitted that God’s work had not ceased after the Sabbath becauseHe sustains the universe.

In response to Jewish hostility at the implications of His assertions of equality with God (v. 18),Jesus became even more fearless, forceful, and emphatic.“Most assuredly”(v. 19) is an emphatic wayof saying “I’m telling you the truth.” Jesus essentially tied His activities of healing on the Sabbathdirectly to the Father. The Son never took independent action that set Him against the Fatherbecause the Son only did those things that were coincident with and coextensive with all that theFather does. Jesus thus implied that the only One who could do what the Father does must be asgreat as the Father.

DAY 17: Why did Jesus not back down to religious hypocrisy?


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