Day 100 – April 10, 2022

1 Kingdoms 15:10-17:33

¹⁰ Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ¹¹ “I deeply regret I set up Saul to reign as king, for he turned back from following Me and has not kept My words.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. ¹² Samuel rose early and journeyed to a meeting with Israel in the early morning. Then it was reported to Samuel, saying, “Saul has been in Carmel to gather help to himself.” Samuel turned the chariot and went down to Saul in Gilgal. And behold, Saul offered the whole burnt offering to the Lord, the first of the plunder brought out of Amalek. ¹³ Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you by the Lord! I established all the many things the Lord said.” ¹⁴ But Samuel said, “What then is the sound of the flock in my ears, and the sound of oxen which I hear?” ¹⁵ And Saul said, “I brought them from Amalek; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, in order that they may be sacrificed to the Lord your God. The rest I utterly destroyed.” ¹⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet, and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And Saul said to him, “Speak on.”
¹⁷ So Samuel said to Saul, “Were you not small before Him, you who with a sceptre lead all the families of the tribes of Israel? Even so, the Lord still anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸ Now the Lord sent you off on a mission and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners for me, the Amalekites, and fight against them until you consume them.’ ¹⁹ Why did you not heed the voice of the Lord, but rushed down on the spoils and did evil before the Lord?”
²⁰ And Saul said to Samuel, “For the sake of the people, I listened to their voice, but I also went in the ways the Lord sent me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹ But the people took of the plunder, the sheep and the oxen, the best of what should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Gilgal.” ²² Then Samuel said, “If only the desired whole burnt offerings and desired sacrifices were equal to the Lord, as compared to one who heeds the voice of the Lord! Behold! Hearing is better than a good sacrifice and obedience than the fat of rams. ²³ That sin is one and the same as divination. Idols bring grief and pain. Because you rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord rejects you from remaining king over Israel.” ²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “I sinned because I transgressed the word of the Lord and your word; for I feared the people and heeded their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, take away my sin and return with me, so that I can worship the Lord your God.” ²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, because you rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord rejects you from remaining king over Israel.”
²⁷ As Samuel turned his face to go away, Saul grasped the edge of his robe and tore it. ²⁸ So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has rent the kingdom of Israel from your hand today, and He will give it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. ²⁹ And Israel will be divided in two, and God shall not turn back nor repent. For He is not like a man that He should repent.” ³⁰ Then Saul said, “I have sinned, but indeed honor me before the elders of Israel and my people. Return with me, and I will worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel turned back after Saul, and he worshiped the Lord.
³² Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of Amalek.” So Agag came to him trembling. And Agag said, “Surely this is the bitter death.” ³³ And Samuel said to Agag, “As your sword made women childless, so shall your mother be made childless among women.” So before the Lord, Samuel put Agag to death in Gilgal. ³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah. ³⁵ And Samuel did not go to see Saul again until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that Saul reigned over Israel.
David Anointed King of Israel
​¹ Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with olive oil and come. I will send you to Jesse in Bethlehem, for I have seen someone among his sons to reign for Me.” ² And Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear it and he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer in your arms and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You shall anoint the one I tell you.”
  ⁴ So Samuel did everything the Lord said to him and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town were astonished at meeting him, and they said, “Seer, do you come in peace?” ⁵ And he said, “Peaceably I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and rejoice with me today.” Then he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and he invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶ And it came to be when they entered that Samuel looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the anointed of the Lord is before Him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Have no regard for his outward appearance, nor for the maturity of his stature, because I have refused him. For man does not see as God sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord sees into the heart.”
⁸ So Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And Samuel said, “The Lord did not choose this one either.” ⁹ Then Jesse brought Shammah. But Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Thus Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are there any other young men here?” Then Jesse said, “There remains yet the youngest, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Arise, anoint David; for he is good!” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of olive oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
David in the Court of Saul
¹⁴ But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold, an evil spirit from the Lord is tormenting you. ¹⁶ Now let your servants speak before you, and let them seek for our lord a man who knows how to play the harp. And it will come to pass when the evil spirit is upon you, he will play his harp, and it will be good for you and give you rest.” ¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Indeed, seek out for me a man who plays skillfully and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ Then one of his servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who understands playing on the harp, a prudent man, a man of war, wise in speech, handsome; and the Lord is with him.”
¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” ²⁰ And Jesse took a homer of bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat, and sent them by the hand of his son David to Saul. ²¹ So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. ²² Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David stand here before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ So whenever the evil spirit was upon Saul, David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become well refreshed, and the evil spirit would depart from him.
David and Goliath
​¹ Now the Philistines brought their armies together for battle, and they gathered at Sochoh of Judah. They encamped between Sochoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. ² And Saul and the men of Israel gathered, and they were encamped in the valley. They were to set up in battle formation opposite the Philistines. ³ The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.
⁴ And a mighty man went out from the battle line of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath. His height was four cubits and a span. ⁵ He had a helmet on his head, and he wore a breastplate of chain mail; and the weight of his breastplate was five thousand shekels of brass and iron. ⁶ And he had armor made of bronze on his legs and a bronze shield between his shoulders. ⁷ Now the staff of his spear was like the beam of a loom, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels. A shield-bearer went before him. ⁸ Then he stood and shouted out to the armies of Israel and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle against us? Am I not a Philistine, and you Hebrews of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I am able to kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” ¹⁰ And the Philistine said, “Look! This very day I challenge the ranks of the armies of Israel. Give me a man that the two of us can fight one on one.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
  ¹² But David said to Saul, “Let not the heart of my lord fall in regards to him. Your servant will go and fight with this foreigner.” ¹³ And Saul said to David, “No, you are not able to go to the Philistine to fight him, since you are a young man, and he is a man of war from his youth.” ¹⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to tend the flock for his father, and when a lion or a bear came and took a sheep out of the flock, ¹⁵ I followed it and struck it, and delivered the sheep from its mouth. And as it arose against me, I caught it by its throat and struck and killed it. ¹⁶ Your servant smote both the lion and the bear; and the uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them to me. Will I not go and kill him today, and remove the reproach of Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one who challenged the ranks of the armies of Israel? ¹⁷ The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this uncircumcised Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord will be with you!”
¹⁸ So Saul clothed David with armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head, ¹⁹ and he girded David with his sword over his armor. David made a trial walking with them a time or two. And David said to Saul, “I am not able to go with these, for I have not tested them.” So they removed them. ²⁰ Then David took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook. He put them in a shepherd’s bag to store away, and in his hand was his sling. He then approached the Philistine.
²¹ And when Goliath saw David, he disdained him; for he was a young boy, ruddy with a good countenance. ²² So the Philistine said to David, “Am I as a dog, that you come against me with a staff and stones?” Then David said, “No, worse than a dog!” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ²³ And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of heaven and the beasts of the field!”
²⁴ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a shield. But I come to you in the name of the Lord Sabaoth, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you reproached today. ²⁵ Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will kill you and take your head from you. And this day I will give your carcass and the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of heaven and the wild beasts of the earth, and all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel. ²⁶ Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and the Lord will deliver you into our hands.”
²⁷ And the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David. ²⁸ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out one stone. He slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone penetrated through his helmet and into his forehead. He fell to the ground on his face. ²⁹ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone. He struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in the hand of David. ³⁰ Therefore, David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword, and killed him and cut off his head. And the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and they fled.
³¹ Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued them as far as the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ashkelon. And the wounded Philistines fell on the way to the gates, even as far as Gath and Ashkelon. ³² Then the men of Israel returned from pursuing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. ³³ And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. He put his armor in his tent.

Psalm 83

​¹ For the End, concerning the winepresses; a psalm for the sons of Korah.
² How beloved are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts.
³ My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh greatly rejoice in the living God.
⁴ For even the sparrow found a house for herself,
And the turtledove a nest for herself, where she will lay her young,
Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
⁵ Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
  They shall praise You unto ages of ages.
(Pause)
⁶ Blessed is the man whose help is from You, O Lord;
He purposed ascents in his heart
⁷ In the valley of weeping, into the place he appointed;
For there the lawgiver shall give blessings.
⁸ They shall go from strength to strength;
The God of gods shall be seen in Zion.
⁹ O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob.
(Pause)
¹⁰ O God, our protector, behold,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
¹¹ For one day in Your courts is better than a thousand;
I chose to be an outcast in the house of my God,
Rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners.
¹² For the Lord God loves mercy and truth;
He will give grace and glory;
The Lord’s hand will not remove good things from those who walk in innocence.
¹³ O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who hopes in You.

Proverbs 17:21–25

²¹ He who loves sin rejoices in quarrels,
And the hard-hearted man does not assemble with good men.
²² A changeable man will fall into evils with his tongue,
And a heart without discernment is grief to the one possessing it.
²³ A father does not delight in an uninstructed son;
But a son with discernment gladdens his mother.
²⁴ A cheerful heart makes a man healthy,
But the bones of a sorrowful man dry him up.
²⁵ The ways of a man who receives gifts unrighteously do not prosper,
And the ungodly man shuns the ways of righteousness.

Luke 10:1–24

​¹ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.
² Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
³ “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
⁴ “Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.
⁵ “But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’
⁶ “And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.
⁷ “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.
⁸ “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.
⁹ “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
¹⁰ “But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,
¹¹ ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’
¹² “But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.
Woe to the Impenitent Cities
(Matt. 11:20–24)
¹³ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
¹⁴ “But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.
¹⁵ “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
¹⁶ “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
The Seventy Return with Joy
¹⁷ Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
  ¹⁸ And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
¹⁹ “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
²⁰ “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit
(Matt. 11:25–27)
²¹ In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
²² “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
²³ Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see;
²⁴ “for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”