I Samuel 29-30 Dear RTB’ers, David has moved to the Philistines in order to get away from Saul’s constant pursuit. He has served one of the Philistine kings, Achish, and has been given his own city to live in, Ziklag. He has deceived Achish and pretended loyalty to him, although his heart is certainly with …
Category Archives: RTB 2025 – Search the Scriptures, Part 2
June 23 / I Samuel 27-28
I Samuel 27-28 Dear RTB’ers, Today we see the end of David and his men running and of Saul’s pursuit: And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. (v. 27:4) The Philistine king gives David his own city, Ziklag, a border city between the Philistines and …
June 22 / I Samuel 25-26
I Samuel 25-26 Dear RTB’ers, Two incidents, both fairly straightforward. In the first, Abigail defies her husband Nabal and provides David and his men with food and drink. David is truly grateful and Nabal is equally angry – so much so that he appears to have suffered a stroke or a heart attack and dies …
June 21 / I Samuel 23-24
I Samuel 23-24 Dear RTB’ers, David on the run and Saul in hot pursuit. It’s a continuing story of Saul’s pursuit and David’s escape – or of Saul’s withdrawing. There are a number of smaller items in today’s reading, but David sparing Saul’s life really sticks out for me. They are both in the same …
June 20 / I Samuel 21:10-22:23
I Samuel 21:10-22:23 Dear RTB’ers, We will find as we move through the Samuel, Kings and Chronicles books that detailing the lineage of the kings of Israel and Judah is important to the Biblical writers. Somewhat less important, but still helpful is the lineage of the high priests. This will become much more important later. …
June 19 / I Samuel 20:1-21:9
I Samuel 20:1-21:9 Dear RTB’ers, Saul intent on killing David; Jonathan and David knit together in a vow relationship; and David clearly on the run. These Saul-Jonathan-David relationships will continue for the rest of I Samuel, but David’s brief time with Ahimelech, the priest is a story that will live on for centuries. Jesus referred …
June 18 / I Samuel 17:55-19:24
I Samuel 17:55-19:24 Dear RTB’ers, Saul becomes deranged! In earlier chapters we saw Saul making mistake after mistake, particularly in reference to his relationship with Samuel. Now he has a new relationship, sadly adversarial, against David, the hero of the battle with Goliath. Instead of celebrating David’s victories over the Philistines, Saul becomes intensely jealous …
June 17 / I Samuel 17:1-54
I Samuel 17:1-54 Dear RTB’ers, I said yesterday that God choosing David over his seven brothers was a great Sunday School story. However, I don’t think there are any Old Testament stories that can beat today’s reading. When our son was just learning to read (well enough!) he was fidgeting badly in church one Sunday, …
June 16 / I Samuel 16
I Samuel 16 Dear RTB’ers, David anointed king, a great Sunday School story, with an oft-quoted memory verse: For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. (v. 7b) Saul brings a musician to court, not knowing that he is bringing the young man …
June 15 / I Samuel 15
I Samuel 15 Dear RTB’ers, Happy Father’s Day – to the few fathers on this list! Sorry about yesterday’s post; I was using my phone instead of my computer, with spotty signal all along our travel route. Today I’m home-based, a much better situation! Continuing with Saul (and Samuel)… Today we have Saul’s third misdeed. …