Tag: david
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Rudyard Kipling’s “If” and the Masculinity of David and Jonathan
I asked Grok to illustrate from David’s life how he lived out the lessons of Rudyard Kipling’s “If” poem: Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If” outlines a series of virtues and challenges that define maturity and character. The biblical figure of David, whose life is chronicled primarily in 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and the Psalms,…
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1 Samuel 30-31 — More Sermon Scraps: David as Type of Christ
It would be impossible for me here to produce anything like a complete bibliography of books to read on typological hermeneutics, but here are a few that should be at the top of anyone’s list: Through New Eyes by James Jordan Knowing God Through the OT by C. J. H. Wright Jesus and Israel by…
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1 Samuel 29 Sermon Follow-Up: David’s Surprising Salvation
The stories in 1 Samuel 28-29 are out of chronological order. The dischronologization serves both a literary and theological/ethic purpose. How do we know the stories are out of order? The geographical and chronological details make it clear that the events of chapter 29 actually happened before the events of chapter 28. The writer has…
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1 Samuel 28 Sermon Follow-Up: Samuel Speaks From the Grave
From dragons to drugs to divination, the sermon covered a lot of ground. We only scratched the surface of the “deep weird” in the Bible. A few more examples: — In Deut. 32:8, the nations (after Babel) are divided up according to the sons of God (LXX), presumably angelic and demonic beings (cf. Job 1:6).…
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1 Samuel 26 Sermon Follow-up: Sanctified Swagger
1 Samuel 26 is a story of sanctified swagger. Women often doubt such a thing exists, but most men know it does. What happens in 1 Samuel 26? David takes Abishai with him into the heart of Saul’s camp. They’re outnumbered 3000 to 2. David is a total underdog. But he knows God loves the…
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Notes on 1 Samuel 25: Pissing Against the Wall
In 1 Samuel 25, David and his men have acted as a “wall” of protection (v. 16) for Nabal’s servants, guarding Nabal’s men and numerous animals from attack by roving marauders (probably raiding Philistines). Soon after, when Nabal is having his great sheep-shearing feast, David sends men to ask him for provisions. David was not…
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Saul vs David, Self-Pity vs God’s Pity
I recently interrupted my preaching series on 1 Samuel to look at what I call David’s “cave psalms.” These are psalms composed by David while he was on the run from Saul, usually hiding out in caves. These psalms tell us when they were composed in their title notes (which I take to be part…
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1 Samuel 23: Sermon Follow-up
I preached from 1 Samuel 23 on Easter Sunday. A few notes: The structure of the chapter is obvious. Two stories of David being betrayed (by the men of Keilah and Ziph) are wrapped around a story of loyalty to David (demonstrated by Jonathan). It’s disloyalty/loyalty sandwich, with faithful Jonathan at the center, surrounded by…
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Sermon follow-up: 1 Samuel 22
In 1 Samuel 22:2, a rag tag bunch of 400 men come to David. They are obviously outcasts and losers. These were angry, disaffected young men (you’ve probably seen the type – they are common today as well). These men are in distress, in debt, and discontent. We are not told if their suffering is…
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Sermon Follow Up, 1 Samuel 13-16
1 Samuel 14:47ff might make it sound like Saul was a great warrior. And he did have a measure of success, obviously. But his ongoing wars have to be understood as a mixed blessing to Israel. V. 52 tells us he fought the Philistines “all his days.” The problem is that the never actually won. …
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