Freshman Introduction To The Book Of Revelation
Stories
Contents
“Freshman Introduction To The Book Of Revelation” by David O. Bales
“I Will Bless The Lord At All Times” by David O. Bales
Freshman Introduction To The Book Of Revelation
by David O. Bales
Revelation 7:9-17
When Alison left for her freshman year of college, her pastor instructed her, “Find a Christian group when you get there.” She began to worship at a church three blocks from campus, but no Christian gathering fit her schedule. So, by mid-terms she’d recruited the Christians on her women’s and men’s freshmen floors. Alison had the potential of a Christian group.
She didn’t know, however, that because 1960s campus groups caused disorder on campus and violence in the city—and lowered alumni contributions—the University’s policy was well established by the 1990s that all campus extra-curricular student groups must have a faculty advisor. She encountered the difficulty at the Student Union where she tried to reserve an alcove for Thursday evenings. The resident assistant on duty asked, “Faculty advisor?”
“Huh?” Alison said.
“Name of faculty advisor.”
“We don’t have one.”
The RA closed the reservations book. “Sorry. Groups can’t meet here unless they have one.”
The RA rattled off the policy: “An advisor isn’t needed if your group meets off campus and doesn’t post notices on university grounds.” Then she smiled, “It’s pretty much a joke. They don’t have to attend every time you convene. Just agree to have their name on your group; and, twice a year I think, they report their oversight to the Dean. Some instructor will sign for your group. But,” she said, “I can’t write you in for Thursday until you get a name.”
By the end of the day Alison had quizzed three women in her not-having-met-yet group for suggestions. Leah mentioned, “All I can think of is Dr. Phelan. She’s the Methodist pastor who teaches ‘The Bible As Literature.’ My boyfriend had her last year and says she’s interesting.”
Alison lifted an eyebrow and Leah nodded that, yes, to rate a professor interesting was a high compliment. When Alison phoned the Methodist church, Doctor Phelan said that because she only taught one course a semester she’d never been an advisor. But she agreed and said she’d find out from the Dean what to do.
Alison explained that the group was yet to begin.
“What kind of group’s it going to be?” Dr. Phelan said.
Alison, who’d never been in a Christian group other than her church’s youth group, answered slowly, “We’re going to study the Bible.”
“What’re you going to study?”
Alison hadn’t planned beyond forming the group. She said, “Two of the people I talked with want to know about Revelation.”
“Sounds usual,” Doctor Phelan said. “Would you like help with the Bible study?”
Alison hadn’t considered that either; but she could feel Doctor Phelan’s eagerness. “Well, I guess—.”
“Good. I’ll come with an introduction for the Book of Revelation. After that you’re on your own.”
Consequently, on Thursday at seven Dr. Celeste Phelan marched into the Student Union’s alcove three to meet Alison and her group gathering for the first time. Dr. Phelan wasn’t what Alison expected. She seemed a 60 year old athlete with close-cropped grey hair. She sat in front of the group and after everyone introduced themselves she said, “Thanks for having me. Call me ‘Cel,’ short for ‘Celeste.’ She gave a conspiratorial smile, “I’ll try to be a faithful faculty advisor, whatever that means,” and everyone chuckled with her. “Alison said you’d like to know about the Book of Revelation.” She gestured toward Alison who nodded with an uncertain look. The two hadn’t talked much.
“Before I returned to the University for my doctorate, I was a pastor in the 70s. My hobby was to haunt used book stores and purchase books predicting the world’s end, predictions which, of course, failed. That was the hay day of Hal Lindsey’s book The Late Great Planet Earth. Seemed everybody was discussing some doom calculator who was on TV or writing books.
“Pretty soon, having explained many times about the 2000 year string of unaccomplished end-of-the-world predictions, I realized that people panting toward the end of the world didn’t care that all predictions had been wrong and that generation by generation Christians had been saddened and lost faith when Jesus didn’t return as expected.
“That’s a problem for our faith, though, isn’t it?” She glanced at Alison as though the question was for her. Alison gave a slight nod. Cel continued. “A 90 year old lady told me how, when she was eight, her city was astir with the prediction that Jesus was going to return on a particular day. She recalled how frightened she was that afternoon running home from school. I think of that gentle soul whenever I preach or teach on Revelation.
“You guys hear end-of-the-world predictions?”
Someone mentioned Billy Graham and another named a television evangelist. Cel barreled on. “Alright. You know a little of where I’m coming from. I returned to grad school in the late 70s, precisely when Lindsey’s book was the best-selling non-fiction book for a decade. My degree is actually in history, so 20 years ago while an end-of-the-world furor was sweeping through America, pin-pointing people and events supposedly predicted in Revelation, I read Barbara Tuchman’s book: A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. She recorded Europe’s upheavals that included a third of the population from India to Iceland dying as waves of the plague crashed over the planet—the most lethal disaster of recorded history, to use her words. She laid out the violent disruptions to society and the ways Christians—long before a modern understanding of germs—blamed demons and Satan and found exact predictions in the Book of Revelation. In the 90s nuclear war was still a huge threat and the Soviet Union had just toppled. Tuchman showed that current reactions to suffering and uncertainty are similar to those of the fourteenth century. Helps to know that as we contemplate Revelation.
“I brought a handout to orient us.” She handed the pages to Leah and asked her to pass them around. “First, the Revelation was one of a style of writings—some call it a fad—composed from 200 BC to 150 AD. It’s written in a code understandable to most of its first recipients because they knew the Bible. The Bible they knew was being gathered into what Christians call the Old Testament. There were only a few pieces of the New Testament then, and their Old Testament was written in Greek. I know that’s a surprise, but you’re in college and I expect as followers of Jesus you to want to learn where, when, and how the Bible came to be.
“Revelation came from Patmos Island, off the coast of modern Turkey. John wrote it in exile to new Christians—that’s about the only Christians there were. One constant in the history of Christianity is that new Christians read the Bible. I say they ‘read’ the Bible. Rather, they listened, as stated in chapter one. Only about two percent could read. Another factoid for you.
“At least minimally they understood Revelation’s symbolism, this manner of draping ideas with pictures. The early Christians knew the code. The Romans didn’t. To the Romans Revelation would seem as strange as science fiction. It’s as stylized and unfamiliar as opera or ballet to those uninitiated in those arts.
“Second, the Revelation was about Rome, including the emperor, called ‘lord and savior.’ Christians claimed Jesus as Lord and Savior. See the conflict? Two absolute claims upon people, and the empire’s claim could be violent. Some Christians were persecuted, others were complacent. They all needed confirmation that they lived within an eternal, invisible competition. It’s beyond counter-cultural to ‘counter-world,’ and it’s illuminated through weird images and warped symbols. I think of Hitler’s rallies with its searchlights into the sky beside a thousand rows of indoctrinated worshippers. In my mind I turn a searchlight sideways and aim it across Hitler’s flailing figure so his monstrously grotesque shadow projects onto the wall behind him, revealing the beast he really was. The Revelation uses that kind of distortion. It mocks the empire and magnifies the crucified Lord Jesus. If we were to communicate that way, we’d have to run a translation ribbon across the bottom the TV screen to interpret it.” Cel chuckled.
“If you read the whole book of Revelation, or hear it read—takes less than an hour—you’ll see it, hear it, feel it, even taste and smell it. You’ll want to say, ‘Hey, wait. Stop. What does that mean?’ Yet, blast through it to the end. It’s like a kaleidoscope, with a telescope switching to a microscope, plus fast forward and pause. It portrays the conflict that Jesus’ followers always experience with values and allegiance. This is what it’s like to be Jesus’ follower, or ‘saint’ as Revelation calls us. Reading the Revelation you watch a drama in your mind of God’s world overcoming the Roman Empire, assuring us that there’s no ultimate authority except our risen Lord and that his sacrificial authority of love always has been and always will be.
“So, third, it’s about our trusting that God is with us no matter what we suffer, and God loves us. Us. Not just believers—the saints—being persecuted by Roman officials. Us. Not just those Christians in Asia Minor hearing John’s circular letter read. Us. We—like the faithful who came before us—don’t have to learn every nuance of Revelation’s code to trust that this is God’s world and God has reclaimed it through Jesus. Ours is a world that ‘A’ kills Jesus but ‘B’ is loved by God. Both of those things are eternally true.”
No one else had spoken for ten minutes. “I’m sorry,” Cel said. “I got a little carried away.” A few laughed. Two or three had puzzled looks on their faces. “The Book of Revelation is important to me because I’ve seen so many people shipwrecked on the rocks of literalism, having missed the central intent of Revelation.”
She said, “Questions?” Leah asked about Patmos Island and then who the Roman Emperor was, for which Cel gave effusive answers. Within ten minutes two members said they had to leave and fifteen minutes later the group dispersed.
Alison thanked Cel as they walked together from the Student Union. Last thing before they parted Alison spoke with overly distinct words, “So, tell me, Cel, really. From all your careful study, are we going to see Jesus return in our lifetime?”
Preaching point: Despite confusion in interpreting the Book of Revelation, it strengthens Christians to be faithful to Christ.
* * *
I Will Bless The Lord At All Times
by David O. Bales
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
King David’s three oldest brothers, injured from combat in his army, continued to meet six nights a week in Jerusalem’s inn with their new friend Joah. He was younger and had been injured in this spring’s first campaign, disabled when half of his left foot was chopped off by a Philistine sword—an encounter which, over wine, was retold and expanded until those who heard it supposed that Joah had saved all of David’s forces while succumbing to the wound. As the evening wore on and the wine bore in, the younger soldier said, “Tell me more about Saul. You were actually near him.”
“I’m sick of talking about Saul,” Eliab said. He raised his voice to the inn’s slave, “More wine over here.”
“He was a wickedly vicious warrior,” Abinadab said, “murderous in battle. But over just a few years, his thinking became so jumbled he’d take a crooked path even if a straight one were at hand. Wasn’t because he was crafty. For no reason. You couldn’t predict when you saw him what condition he was in. He’d congratulate David then glance at him sideways that made you wonder what he was planning now. Sometimes the only way to calm him was David and his lyre. Strum, strum, strum, getting a rhythm of sound going to Saul’s heartbeats.”
“Did the rest of the army know how erratic Saul was?” Joah asked, barely completing his last word before he pushed his bowl to his face and took another long draught.
“A little, now and then,” Abinadab said, “but so what? Don’t you want a huge fellow like Saul swinging his sword in front of you when you charge into battle?”
The four sat silently a moment, then Shammah said, “It was back and forth between David and Saul for quite a while. David would be honored then Saul would try to kill him. That was the real break between Saul and our family and what led David to flee to the Philistines.”
Joah set his bowl down with a thump. “Wait, wait, wait.” He waved his hand quickly in front of his face, “Philistines?”
“You didn’t know that?” Abinadab said. “When David fled Saul’s court the last time, he had to seek shelter somewhere. You know that new psalm the priests are chanting: ‘I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth?’”
“I’ve heard it. Hard to follow.”
“The scribes order it so the priests and Levites can remember it. Some can read and write. David sings a verse, and they work out how to arrange it. But the psalm came when David first fled to the Philistines. Think about that when you hear it, not how hard it is to follow. The psalm came from David when he was down to nothing.”
Eliab received a refill of his wine bowl and Shammah said, “King Saul had tried again to kill David in the king’s own fortress. So, when David left this time, where could he go among the tribes of Israel? Anyone who helped him would be subject to instant death. That’s how far Saul’s mind had slipped. David sent our parents east and he fled west to King Achish of Gath. First time to Achish, the king’s servants pointed out that David was Saul’s warrior who was both the slyest and most successful in slaying Philistines. Can you imagine that? Here’s the fellow who’s responsible for slaughtering squad after squad of their friends and relatives. David’s life is balancing on a hair. What’s he do? Fakes being crazy! Pretends a fit: scratching the wall, rolling on the ground, slobbering in the dust.
“It worked. Got him safely away, disregarded as a madman. It’s something like the practice he developed when feinting in warfare. That’s when our clan finally deserted Saul and we became the core of his first army, 400 of us, then 600. Didn’t take long to realize David would eventually defeat Saul. There’s nobody like our little brother David as a commander — you’ve seen that. And Saul started tracking us wherever we went. And the LORD was there to help David and David wouldn’t kill Saul. Saul was the LORD’s anointed. Through it all, whether we were pretending to serve Philistines or protecting Hebrews, David realized the LORD was encamped around us.”
Abinadab said, “When the musicians come by with their lyres, we always offer a coin and ask for ‘I will bless the LORD at all times.’ It’s for all of us because we not only joined David’s battles, we share his faith. That psalm is now yours also and for everyone who turns to the LORD in dire straits.”
Eliab raised his voice and, following his propensity for grand gestures, swept his arm toward everyone in the room, “The psalm’s for everyone who’ll trust the LORD. Happy are those who take refuge in him.”
Preaching point: David’s psalm for all who trust the LORD. (1 Samuel 21:10-15)
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 1, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
“Freshman Introduction To The Book Of Revelation” by David O. Bales
“I Will Bless The Lord At All Times” by David O. Bales
Freshman Introduction To The Book Of Revelation
by David O. Bales
Revelation 7:9-17
When Alison left for her freshman year of college, her pastor instructed her, “Find a Christian group when you get there.” She began to worship at a church three blocks from campus, but no Christian gathering fit her schedule. So, by mid-terms she’d recruited the Christians on her women’s and men’s freshmen floors. Alison had the potential of a Christian group.
She didn’t know, however, that because 1960s campus groups caused disorder on campus and violence in the city—and lowered alumni contributions—the University’s policy was well established by the 1990s that all campus extra-curricular student groups must have a faculty advisor. She encountered the difficulty at the Student Union where she tried to reserve an alcove for Thursday evenings. The resident assistant on duty asked, “Faculty advisor?”
“Huh?” Alison said.
“Name of faculty advisor.”
“We don’t have one.”
The RA closed the reservations book. “Sorry. Groups can’t meet here unless they have one.”
The RA rattled off the policy: “An advisor isn’t needed if your group meets off campus and doesn’t post notices on university grounds.” Then she smiled, “It’s pretty much a joke. They don’t have to attend every time you convene. Just agree to have their name on your group; and, twice a year I think, they report their oversight to the Dean. Some instructor will sign for your group. But,” she said, “I can’t write you in for Thursday until you get a name.”
By the end of the day Alison had quizzed three women in her not-having-met-yet group for suggestions. Leah mentioned, “All I can think of is Dr. Phelan. She’s the Methodist pastor who teaches ‘The Bible As Literature.’ My boyfriend had her last year and says she’s interesting.”
Alison lifted an eyebrow and Leah nodded that, yes, to rate a professor interesting was a high compliment. When Alison phoned the Methodist church, Doctor Phelan said that because she only taught one course a semester she’d never been an advisor. But she agreed and said she’d find out from the Dean what to do.
Alison explained that the group was yet to begin.
“What kind of group’s it going to be?” Dr. Phelan said.
Alison, who’d never been in a Christian group other than her church’s youth group, answered slowly, “We’re going to study the Bible.”
“What’re you going to study?”
Alison hadn’t planned beyond forming the group. She said, “Two of the people I talked with want to know about Revelation.”
“Sounds usual,” Doctor Phelan said. “Would you like help with the Bible study?”
Alison hadn’t considered that either; but she could feel Doctor Phelan’s eagerness. “Well, I guess—.”
“Good. I’ll come with an introduction for the Book of Revelation. After that you’re on your own.”
Consequently, on Thursday at seven Dr. Celeste Phelan marched into the Student Union’s alcove three to meet Alison and her group gathering for the first time. Dr. Phelan wasn’t what Alison expected. She seemed a 60 year old athlete with close-cropped grey hair. She sat in front of the group and after everyone introduced themselves she said, “Thanks for having me. Call me ‘Cel,’ short for ‘Celeste.’ She gave a conspiratorial smile, “I’ll try to be a faithful faculty advisor, whatever that means,” and everyone chuckled with her. “Alison said you’d like to know about the Book of Revelation.” She gestured toward Alison who nodded with an uncertain look. The two hadn’t talked much.
“Before I returned to the University for my doctorate, I was a pastor in the 70s. My hobby was to haunt used book stores and purchase books predicting the world’s end, predictions which, of course, failed. That was the hay day of Hal Lindsey’s book The Late Great Planet Earth. Seemed everybody was discussing some doom calculator who was on TV or writing books.
“Pretty soon, having explained many times about the 2000 year string of unaccomplished end-of-the-world predictions, I realized that people panting toward the end of the world didn’t care that all predictions had been wrong and that generation by generation Christians had been saddened and lost faith when Jesus didn’t return as expected.
“That’s a problem for our faith, though, isn’t it?” She glanced at Alison as though the question was for her. Alison gave a slight nod. Cel continued. “A 90 year old lady told me how, when she was eight, her city was astir with the prediction that Jesus was going to return on a particular day. She recalled how frightened she was that afternoon running home from school. I think of that gentle soul whenever I preach or teach on Revelation.
“You guys hear end-of-the-world predictions?”
Someone mentioned Billy Graham and another named a television evangelist. Cel barreled on. “Alright. You know a little of where I’m coming from. I returned to grad school in the late 70s, precisely when Lindsey’s book was the best-selling non-fiction book for a decade. My degree is actually in history, so 20 years ago while an end-of-the-world furor was sweeping through America, pin-pointing people and events supposedly predicted in Revelation, I read Barbara Tuchman’s book: A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. She recorded Europe’s upheavals that included a third of the population from India to Iceland dying as waves of the plague crashed over the planet—the most lethal disaster of recorded history, to use her words. She laid out the violent disruptions to society and the ways Christians—long before a modern understanding of germs—blamed demons and Satan and found exact predictions in the Book of Revelation. In the 90s nuclear war was still a huge threat and the Soviet Union had just toppled. Tuchman showed that current reactions to suffering and uncertainty are similar to those of the fourteenth century. Helps to know that as we contemplate Revelation.
“I brought a handout to orient us.” She handed the pages to Leah and asked her to pass them around. “First, the Revelation was one of a style of writings—some call it a fad—composed from 200 BC to 150 AD. It’s written in a code understandable to most of its first recipients because they knew the Bible. The Bible they knew was being gathered into what Christians call the Old Testament. There were only a few pieces of the New Testament then, and their Old Testament was written in Greek. I know that’s a surprise, but you’re in college and I expect as followers of Jesus you to want to learn where, when, and how the Bible came to be.
“Revelation came from Patmos Island, off the coast of modern Turkey. John wrote it in exile to new Christians—that’s about the only Christians there were. One constant in the history of Christianity is that new Christians read the Bible. I say they ‘read’ the Bible. Rather, they listened, as stated in chapter one. Only about two percent could read. Another factoid for you.
“At least minimally they understood Revelation’s symbolism, this manner of draping ideas with pictures. The early Christians knew the code. The Romans didn’t. To the Romans Revelation would seem as strange as science fiction. It’s as stylized and unfamiliar as opera or ballet to those uninitiated in those arts.
“Second, the Revelation was about Rome, including the emperor, called ‘lord and savior.’ Christians claimed Jesus as Lord and Savior. See the conflict? Two absolute claims upon people, and the empire’s claim could be violent. Some Christians were persecuted, others were complacent. They all needed confirmation that they lived within an eternal, invisible competition. It’s beyond counter-cultural to ‘counter-world,’ and it’s illuminated through weird images and warped symbols. I think of Hitler’s rallies with its searchlights into the sky beside a thousand rows of indoctrinated worshippers. In my mind I turn a searchlight sideways and aim it across Hitler’s flailing figure so his monstrously grotesque shadow projects onto the wall behind him, revealing the beast he really was. The Revelation uses that kind of distortion. It mocks the empire and magnifies the crucified Lord Jesus. If we were to communicate that way, we’d have to run a translation ribbon across the bottom the TV screen to interpret it.” Cel chuckled.
“If you read the whole book of Revelation, or hear it read—takes less than an hour—you’ll see it, hear it, feel it, even taste and smell it. You’ll want to say, ‘Hey, wait. Stop. What does that mean?’ Yet, blast through it to the end. It’s like a kaleidoscope, with a telescope switching to a microscope, plus fast forward and pause. It portrays the conflict that Jesus’ followers always experience with values and allegiance. This is what it’s like to be Jesus’ follower, or ‘saint’ as Revelation calls us. Reading the Revelation you watch a drama in your mind of God’s world overcoming the Roman Empire, assuring us that there’s no ultimate authority except our risen Lord and that his sacrificial authority of love always has been and always will be.
“So, third, it’s about our trusting that God is with us no matter what we suffer, and God loves us. Us. Not just believers—the saints—being persecuted by Roman officials. Us. Not just those Christians in Asia Minor hearing John’s circular letter read. Us. We—like the faithful who came before us—don’t have to learn every nuance of Revelation’s code to trust that this is God’s world and God has reclaimed it through Jesus. Ours is a world that ‘A’ kills Jesus but ‘B’ is loved by God. Both of those things are eternally true.”
No one else had spoken for ten minutes. “I’m sorry,” Cel said. “I got a little carried away.” A few laughed. Two or three had puzzled looks on their faces. “The Book of Revelation is important to me because I’ve seen so many people shipwrecked on the rocks of literalism, having missed the central intent of Revelation.”
She said, “Questions?” Leah asked about Patmos Island and then who the Roman Emperor was, for which Cel gave effusive answers. Within ten minutes two members said they had to leave and fifteen minutes later the group dispersed.
Alison thanked Cel as they walked together from the Student Union. Last thing before they parted Alison spoke with overly distinct words, “So, tell me, Cel, really. From all your careful study, are we going to see Jesus return in our lifetime?”
Preaching point: Despite confusion in interpreting the Book of Revelation, it strengthens Christians to be faithful to Christ.
* * *
I Will Bless The Lord At All Times
by David O. Bales
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
King David’s three oldest brothers, injured from combat in his army, continued to meet six nights a week in Jerusalem’s inn with their new friend Joah. He was younger and had been injured in this spring’s first campaign, disabled when half of his left foot was chopped off by a Philistine sword—an encounter which, over wine, was retold and expanded until those who heard it supposed that Joah had saved all of David’s forces while succumbing to the wound. As the evening wore on and the wine bore in, the younger soldier said, “Tell me more about Saul. You were actually near him.”
“I’m sick of talking about Saul,” Eliab said. He raised his voice to the inn’s slave, “More wine over here.”
“He was a wickedly vicious warrior,” Abinadab said, “murderous in battle. But over just a few years, his thinking became so jumbled he’d take a crooked path even if a straight one were at hand. Wasn’t because he was crafty. For no reason. You couldn’t predict when you saw him what condition he was in. He’d congratulate David then glance at him sideways that made you wonder what he was planning now. Sometimes the only way to calm him was David and his lyre. Strum, strum, strum, getting a rhythm of sound going to Saul’s heartbeats.”
“Did the rest of the army know how erratic Saul was?” Joah asked, barely completing his last word before he pushed his bowl to his face and took another long draught.
“A little, now and then,” Abinadab said, “but so what? Don’t you want a huge fellow like Saul swinging his sword in front of you when you charge into battle?”
The four sat silently a moment, then Shammah said, “It was back and forth between David and Saul for quite a while. David would be honored then Saul would try to kill him. That was the real break between Saul and our family and what led David to flee to the Philistines.”
Joah set his bowl down with a thump. “Wait, wait, wait.” He waved his hand quickly in front of his face, “Philistines?”
“You didn’t know that?” Abinadab said. “When David fled Saul’s court the last time, he had to seek shelter somewhere. You know that new psalm the priests are chanting: ‘I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth?’”
“I’ve heard it. Hard to follow.”
“The scribes order it so the priests and Levites can remember it. Some can read and write. David sings a verse, and they work out how to arrange it. But the psalm came when David first fled to the Philistines. Think about that when you hear it, not how hard it is to follow. The psalm came from David when he was down to nothing.”
Eliab received a refill of his wine bowl and Shammah said, “King Saul had tried again to kill David in the king’s own fortress. So, when David left this time, where could he go among the tribes of Israel? Anyone who helped him would be subject to instant death. That’s how far Saul’s mind had slipped. David sent our parents east and he fled west to King Achish of Gath. First time to Achish, the king’s servants pointed out that David was Saul’s warrior who was both the slyest and most successful in slaying Philistines. Can you imagine that? Here’s the fellow who’s responsible for slaughtering squad after squad of their friends and relatives. David’s life is balancing on a hair. What’s he do? Fakes being crazy! Pretends a fit: scratching the wall, rolling on the ground, slobbering in the dust.
“It worked. Got him safely away, disregarded as a madman. It’s something like the practice he developed when feinting in warfare. That’s when our clan finally deserted Saul and we became the core of his first army, 400 of us, then 600. Didn’t take long to realize David would eventually defeat Saul. There’s nobody like our little brother David as a commander — you’ve seen that. And Saul started tracking us wherever we went. And the LORD was there to help David and David wouldn’t kill Saul. Saul was the LORD’s anointed. Through it all, whether we were pretending to serve Philistines or protecting Hebrews, David realized the LORD was encamped around us.”
Abinadab said, “When the musicians come by with their lyres, we always offer a coin and ask for ‘I will bless the LORD at all times.’ It’s for all of us because we not only joined David’s battles, we share his faith. That psalm is now yours also and for everyone who turns to the LORD in dire straits.”
Eliab raised his voice and, following his propensity for grand gestures, swept his arm toward everyone in the room, “The psalm’s for everyone who’ll trust the LORD. Happy are those who take refuge in him.”
Preaching point: David’s psalm for all who trust the LORD. (1 Samuel 21:10-15)
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 1, 2020 issue.
Copyright 2020 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
