I think I'd call it "Yes you CAN trust God - 501"
I have never, not ever, not once . . . n e v e r . . . heard a sermon on the next passage of scripture. You didn't learn it in Sunday School ... again n e v e r seen a Sunday School curriculum include this story. Yet I think it may be one of my favorite Bible stories ever. Curious? Let me include it in-total:
1 Sam 19:18-24
When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel
at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and
Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. Word came to Saul:
"David is in Naioth at Ramah"; so he sent men to capture him.
But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel
standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men
and they also prophesied. Saul was told about it, and he sent more
men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also
prophesied. Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great
cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?"
"Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said.
So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon
him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He
stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that
way all that day and night. This is why people say,
"Is Saul also among the prophets?"
So ~ what happened here? OK...I have underlined a couple of phrases, and changed the color of a couple of the words to highlight them.
Here is the story: Saul's insecurity has gotten completely out of hand and he has tried every way he can think of to kill David or to get David killed: thrown spears at him; tried and succeeded in marrying David off to one of his lovely daughters to increase his "distraction quotient", shall we say, so he won't be completely on his game; asked for 100 "foreskins" of the Philistines as bride-price for his daughter. Nothing has worked. There is a "top 40 song" that rankles and rings in Saul's ears as -- probably -- even his staff are humming it while they work. Finally David decides he has had enough and runs away. He goes to see Samuel to tell him what Saul is doing. This tells me that David actually got to know Samuel after that dinner where he got called in from the sheep to be anointed king. I suspect that he wanted Samuel to know that he wasn't running out on the job ~ I suspect that Samuel already knew that. So ... why is this one of my favorites? I love it because in this story God is GOD and does ... well ... a "GOD" thing ~ something both amazing and pretty funny to save David and to put Saul firmly 'in his place'.
I do think some explanation may be needed.
The word I highlighted is "prophesy". Today it has come to mean "give [rationally, in a nice normal tone of voice] a comforting, or encouraging or exhorting word to someone with the understanding that the word, or message is from God" .... OK, that is not a dictionary definition...it is an experiential derivative of what I think many-to-most people understand when they hear the word in Christian circles. In non-church circles I think it may mean something along the line of "fore-tell the future". If you have those understandings of the word, the story doesn't make sense. Right? Saul sends men to arrest David and they "begin to give people encouraging messages from God" or to "fore-tell the future" and ... by clear implication of the story ... they are therefore unable to arrest David ? ? ? Nope. By implication of the story, something happened that stopped them from arresting David, right? I mean Saul sent men 3 TIMES, and then finally came himself...and NO ONE arrested David. When I looked up the word, it means "to speak or sing by inspiration" or "to speak ecstatically". In Pentecostal/charismatic circles, people might say, "they were manifesting" ... meaning that they were totally overcome by the Holy Spirit ~ and the story DOES say, the Spirit of God came upon. So you don't really have to do much 'reading between the lines' to see that these soldiers and finally Saul were so incapacitated by whatever happened to them that they could not arrest David. God just stepped in and said, "you think you are going to get rid of David? Really? Watch this!!" David did not have to raise one little finger to protect himself. . . . and . . . God, pretty much, made a complete fool of Saul. The story says that before Saul even got to Naioth he began to prophesy, and when he got there he stripped off his clothes and lay naked before God prophesying all night long. You KNOW that story got out!! And...David escaped. Wow!
So what would you call this call this lesson from God? Well, I would say that as far as David was concerned it would be "YES, you can trust God - 501" ... or "Advanced Lessons in TRUST". This is not the kind of thing you forget ... Saul ~ naked ~ prophesying all night, and you can just go ride off to safety.
Sometimes, I think, God is just FUN!!!
1 Sam 19:18-24
When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel
at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and
Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. Word came to Saul:
"David is in Naioth at Ramah"; so he sent men to capture him.
But when they saw a group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel
standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul's men
and they also prophesied. Saul was told about it, and he sent more
men, and they prophesied too. Saul sent men a third time, and they also
prophesied. Finally, he himself left for Ramah and went to the great
cistern at Secu. And he asked, "Where are Samuel and David?"
"Over in Naioth at Ramah," they said.
So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even upon
him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He
stripped off his robes and also prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay that
way all that day and night. This is why people say,
"Is Saul also among the prophets?"
So ~ what happened here? OK...I have underlined a couple of phrases, and changed the color of a couple of the words to highlight them.
Here is the story: Saul's insecurity has gotten completely out of hand and he has tried every way he can think of to kill David or to get David killed: thrown spears at him; tried and succeeded in marrying David off to one of his lovely daughters to increase his "distraction quotient", shall we say, so he won't be completely on his game; asked for 100 "foreskins" of the Philistines as bride-price for his daughter. Nothing has worked. There is a "top 40 song" that rankles and rings in Saul's ears as -- probably -- even his staff are humming it while they work. Finally David decides he has had enough and runs away. He goes to see Samuel to tell him what Saul is doing. This tells me that David actually got to know Samuel after that dinner where he got called in from the sheep to be anointed king. I suspect that he wanted Samuel to know that he wasn't running out on the job ~ I suspect that Samuel already knew that. So ... why is this one of my favorites? I love it because in this story God is GOD and does ... well ... a "GOD" thing ~ something both amazing and pretty funny to save David and to put Saul firmly 'in his place'.
I do think some explanation may be needed.
The word I highlighted is "prophesy". Today it has come to mean "give [rationally, in a nice normal tone of voice] a comforting, or encouraging or exhorting word to someone with the understanding that the word, or message is from God" .... OK, that is not a dictionary definition...it is an experiential derivative of what I think many-to-most people understand when they hear the word in Christian circles. In non-church circles I think it may mean something along the line of "fore-tell the future". If you have those understandings of the word, the story doesn't make sense. Right? Saul sends men to arrest David and they "begin to give people encouraging messages from God" or to "fore-tell the future" and ... by clear implication of the story ... they are therefore unable to arrest David ? ? ? Nope. By implication of the story, something happened that stopped them from arresting David, right? I mean Saul sent men 3 TIMES, and then finally came himself...and NO ONE arrested David. When I looked up the word, it means "to speak or sing by inspiration" or "to speak ecstatically". In Pentecostal/charismatic circles, people might say, "they were manifesting" ... meaning that they were totally overcome by the Holy Spirit ~ and the story DOES say, the Spirit of God came upon. So you don't really have to do much 'reading between the lines' to see that these soldiers and finally Saul were so incapacitated by whatever happened to them that they could not arrest David. God just stepped in and said, "you think you are going to get rid of David? Really? Watch this!!" David did not have to raise one little finger to protect himself. . . . and . . . God, pretty much, made a complete fool of Saul. The story says that before Saul even got to Naioth he began to prophesy, and when he got there he stripped off his clothes and lay naked before God prophesying all night long. You KNOW that story got out!! And...David escaped. Wow!
So what would you call this call this lesson from God? Well, I would say that as far as David was concerned it would be "YES, you can trust God - 501" ... or "Advanced Lessons in TRUST". This is not the kind of thing you forget ... Saul ~ naked ~ prophesying all night, and you can just go ride off to safety.
Sometimes, I think, God is just FUN!!!
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