DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR MONDAY APRIL 13:
WORD OF WISDOM
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
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DAILY DEVOTION
Can You Believe the Bible?
"Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven" ...
(Psalm 119:89)
Isn't that a beautiful verse? You know, the Bible is not the book of the
year; it is the book of the ages. It is settled in heaven and on Earth. We
can depend upon the Word of God. It's not up for a vote. But it does have
its enemies.
The liberal will try to water it down, the atheist will deny it, and the
cultist will twist it. But I believe the greatest enemy of the Bible today
is the Christian who does not love it, memorize it, practice it, and obey
it. If we would do that, we would be witnessing and winning those who
disbelieve.
It is absolutely imperative that you are certain about the Bible. You'll
never get much of anything else settled until you get that settled. Your
salvation, sanctification, usefulness, and assurance depend upon it.
If you want your life to be an exclamation point rather than a question
mark, then you need to be certain the Bible is the Word of God.
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DAILY BIBLE READING
1 Samuel 18-20 New King James Version (NKJV)
Saul Resents David
18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the [a]soul of Jonathan was
knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 Saul
took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house
anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as
his own soul. 4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it
to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.
5 So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and [b]behaved wisely. And Saul
set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the
people and also in the sight of Saul's servants. 6 Now it had happened as
they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the
[c]Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel,
singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with
musical instruments. 7 So the women sang as they danced, and said:
"Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands."
8 Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said,
"They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed
only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" 9 So Saul
[d]eyed David from that day forward.
10 And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came
upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with
his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul's hand. 11 And
Saul cast the spear, for he said, "I will pin David to the wall!" But David
escaped his presence twice.
12 Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had
departed from Saul. 13 Therefore Saul removed him from [e]his presence, and
made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the
people. 14 And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with
him. 15 Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid
of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and
came in before them.
David Marries Michal
17 Then Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab; I will give
her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles."
For Saul thought, "Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the
Philistines be against him."
18 So David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my life or my father's
family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?" 19 But it
happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to
David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.
20 Now Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the
thing pleased him. 21 So Saul said, "I will give her to him, that she may
[f]be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against
him." Therefore Saul said to David a second time, "You shall be my
son-in-law today."
22 And Saul commanded his servants, "Communicate with David secretly, and
say, 'Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now
therefore, become the king's son-in-law.' "
23 So Saul's servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David
said, "Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king's son-in-law, seeing I
am a poor and lightly esteemed man?" 24 And the servants of Saul told him,
saying, [g]"In this manner David spoke."
25 Then Saul said, "Thus you shall say to David: 'The king does not desire
any dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on
the king's enemies.' " But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of
the Philistines. 26 So when his servants told David these words, it pleased
David well to become the king's son-in-law. Now the days had not expired;
27 therefore David arose and went, he and his men, and killed two hundred
men of the Philistines. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave
them in full count to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law.
Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.
28 Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal,
Saul's daughter, loved him; 29 and Saul was still more afraid of David. So
Saul became David's enemy [h]continually. 30 Then the princes of the
Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that
David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name
became highly esteemed.
Saul Persecutes David
19 Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they
should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted greatly in David. 2
So Jonathan told David, saying, "My father Saul seeks to kill you. Therefore
please be on your guard until morning, and stay in a secret place and hide.
3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are,
and I will speak with my father about you. Then what I observe, I will tell
you."
4 Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him,
"Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not
sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. 5
For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the Lord
brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced.
Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a
cause?"
6 So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, "As the Lord lives,
he shall not be killed." 7 Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told
him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his
presence as in times past.
8 And there was war again; and David went out and fought with the
Philistines, and struck them with a mighty blow, and they fled from him.
9 Now the distressing spirit from the Lord came upon Saul as he sat in his
house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing music with his hand.
10 Then Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped
away from Saul's presence; and he drove the spear into the wall. So David
fled and escaped that night.
11 Saul also sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him
in the morning. And Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, "If you do not
save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed." 12 So Michal let
David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. 13 And
Michal took [i]an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats' hair
for his head, and covered it with clothes. 14 So when Saul sent messengers
to take David, she said, "He is sick."
15 Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, "Bring him up to
me in the bed, that I may kill him." 16 And when the messengers had come
in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats' hair for his
head. 17 Then Saul said to Michal, "Why have you deceived me like this, and
sent my enemy away, so that he has escaped?"
And Michal answered Saul, "He said to me, 'Let me go! Why should I kill
you?' "
18 So David fled and escaped, and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all
that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. 19
Now it was told Saul, saying, "Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!" 20
Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the group of
prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of
God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. 21 And when
Saul was told, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. Then
Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. 22
Then he also went to Ramah, and came to the great well that is at Sechu. So
he asked, and said, "Where are Samuel and David?"
And someone said, "Indeed they are at Naioth in Ramah." 23 So he went there
to Naioth in Ramah. Then the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on
and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 And he also stripped
off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down
naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also
among the prophets?"
Jonathan's Loyalty to David
20 Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and went and said to Jonathan,
"What have I done? What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your
father, that he seeks my life?"
2 So Jonathan said to him, "By no means! You shall not die! Indeed, my
father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And
why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so!"
3 Then David took an oath again, and said, "Your father certainly knows that
I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, 'Do not let Jonathan know
this, lest he be grieved.' But truly, as the Lord lives and as your soul
lives, there is but a step between me and death."
4 So Jonathan said to David, "Whatever you yourself desire, I will do it for
you."
5 And David said to Jonathan, "Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should
not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the
field until the third day at evening. 6 If your father misses me at all,
then say, 'David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to
Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the
family.' 7 If he says thus: 'It is well,' your servant will be safe. But if
he is very angry, be sure that evil is determined by him. 8 Therefore you
shall deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into
a covenant of the Lord with you. Nevertheless, if there is iniquity in me,
kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?"
9 But Jonathan said, "Far be it from you! For if I knew certainly that evil
was determined by my father to come upon you, then would I not tell you?"
10 Then David said to Jonathan, "Who will tell me, or what if your father
answers you roughly?"
11 And Jonathan said to David, "Come, let us go out into the field." So both
of them went out into the field. 12 Then Jonathan said to David: "The Lord
God of Israel is witness! When I have [j]sounded out my father sometime
tomorrow, or the third day, and indeed there is good toward David, and I do
not send to you and tell you, 13 may the Lord do so and much more to
Jonathan. But if it pleases my father to do you evil, then I will report it
to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. And the Lord be with
you as He has been with my father. 14 And you shall not only show me the
kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die; 15 but you
shall not [k]cut off your kindness from my [l]house forever, no, not when
the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the
earth." 16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the [m]house of David, saying,
"Let the Lord require it at the hand of David's enemies."
17 Now Jonathan again caused David to vow, because he loved him; for he
loved him as he loved his own soul. 18 Then Jonathan said to David,
"Tomorrow is the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be
empty. 19 And when you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to
the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone
Ezel. 20 Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a
target; 21 and there I will send a lad, saying, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I
expressly say to the lad, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; get
them and come'-then, as the Lord lives, there is safety for you and no harm.
22 But if I say thus to the young man, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you'-go
your way, for the Lord has sent you away. 23 And as for the matter which
you and I have spoken of, indeed the Lord be between you and me forever."
24 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat
down to eat the feast. 25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times,
on a seat by the wall. And [n]Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side,
but David's place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that
day, for he thought, "Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely
he is unclean." 27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the
month, that David's place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, "Why
has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?"
28 So Jonathan answered Saul, "David earnestly asked permission of me to go
to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, 'Please let me go, for our family has a
sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now,
if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my
brothers.' Therefore he has not come to the king's table."
30 Then Saul's anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You
son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the
son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?
31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be
established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for
he [o]shall surely die."
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, "Why should he be
killed? What has he done?" 33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to [p]kill him,
by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.
34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the
second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father
had treated him shamefully.
35 And so it was, in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at
the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him. 36 Then he
said to his lad, "Now run, find the arrows which I shoot." As the lad ran,
he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the lad had come to the place where
the arrow was which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried out after the lad and
said, "Is not the arrow beyond you?" 38 And Jonathan cried out after the
lad, "Make haste, hurry, do not delay!" So Jonathan's lad gathered up the
arrows and came back to his master. 39 But the lad did not know anything.
Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his
[q]weapons to his lad, and said to him, "Go, carry them to the city."
41 As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south,
fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed
one another; and they wept together, but David more so. 42 Then Jonathan
said to David, "Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the
Lord, saying, 'May the Lord be between you and me, and between your
descendants and my descendants, forever.' " So he arose and departed, and
Jonathan went into the city.
Psalm 11 New King James Version (NKJV)
Faith in the Lord's Righteousness
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
11 In the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
"Flee as a bird to your mountain"?
2
For look! The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot [a]secretly at the upright in heart.
3
If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
4
The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord's throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
5
The Lord tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6
Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
Shall be [b]the portion of their cup.
7
For the Lord is righteous,
He loves righteousness;
[c]His countenance beholds the upright.
Psalm 59 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Assured Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]"Do Not Destroy." A Michtam of David when
Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.
59 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
[b]Defend me from those who rise up against me.
2
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.
3
For look, they lie in wait for my life;
The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.
4
They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.
Awake to help me, and behold!
5
You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the [c]nations;
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6
At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
7
Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips;
For they say, "Who hears?"
8
But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the [d]nations in derision.
9
I will wait for You, O You [e]his Strength;
For God is my [f]defense.
10
[g]My God of mercy shall come to meet me;
God shall let me see my desire on my enemies.
11
Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
12
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for the cursing and lying which they speak.
13
Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah
14
And at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
15
They wander up and down for food,
And [h]howl if they are not satisfied.
16
But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.
17
To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.
