Day 101 – April 11, 2022

1 Kingdoms 18-21:1

​¹ From all the cities of Israel, women came out dancing with tambourines, with joy, and with cymbals to greet David. ² And the women began a song and sang, “Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
³ These words seemed evil in the eyes of Saul, and he said to David, “They ascribed to you ten thousands, and to me they ascribed only thousands.” ⁴ So from that day forward, Saul eyed David with suspicion, ⁵ as Saul was apprehensive of the mere presence of David, ⁶ and he removed David from himself. He made David his captain of a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. ⁷ David was prudent in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. ⁸ And Saul saw David to be exceedingly wise, and felt challenged by his presence. ⁹ But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before the people.
David Weds Michal
¹⁰ Now Michal, daughter of Saul, loved David. And it was told to Saul, and it was pleasing in his eyes. ¹¹ So Saul said, “I will give her to him, and she will be a stumbling-block to him.” At this same time, the hand of the Philistines was against Saul. ¹² So Saul gave instruction to his servants, saying, “Speak to David secretly and say, ‘Look, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you. Become the son-in-law of the king.’ ” ¹³ So Saul’s servants spoke these words in the ear of David. And David said, “Is it trivial in your eyes if one becomes the son-in-law of the king when he is lowly and without honor?” ¹⁴ And the servants of Saul told him what David had said. ¹⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David, ‘The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, as vengeance on the enemies of the king.’ ” However, Saul schemed to deliver David into the hands of the Philistines. ¹⁶ And the servants of Saul told David these words, and it was pleasing in the eyes of David to become the son-in-law of the king. ¹⁷ And David arose, and he and his men went and killed in battle a hundred men of the Philistines. And he brought their foreskins to the king. He became the son-in-law of the king, and Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife. ¹⁸ Thus Saul could see the Lord was with David, and all Israel loved him. ¹⁹ Saul was now even more apprehensive about David.
Saul Seeks David’s Life
​¹ Now Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan, son of Saul, preferred David exceedingly. ² So Jonathan spoke to David, saying, “Saul seeks to kill you. Be on your guard until tomorrow morning, and stay hidden in a secret place. ³ I will go out and stand with my father in the field. I will speak to him about you and about anything he may be thinking, and then I will tell you.”
⁴ Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and his deeds are very good. ⁵ For he took his life in his hands and smote the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance. All Israel saw it and rejoiced. Why then do you sin against innocent blood, to put David to death without cause?” ⁶ So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not die.” ⁷ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. ⁸ And the war continued to be waged against Saul; and David fought valiantly and prevailed over the Philistines. He struck them with an exceedingly great beating, and they fled from before him.
⁹ An evil spirit came from God upon Saul as he was resting in his house with a spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp. ¹⁰ And Saul sought to strike David with his spear, but David slipped away from him as he drove the spear into the wall. David fled and escaped. ¹¹ And that night Saul sent messengers to the house of David to keep careful watch over him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, the wife of David, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took an image and placed it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair at the head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴ And Saul sent messengers to take David, and they reported, “He is sick.” ¹⁵ Then Saul sent them back to David, saying, “Bring him up to me in his bed, so I can kill him.” ¹⁶ And the messengers came, and behold, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair at the head. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and send my enemy away, so he could escape?” And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Send me away! Otherwise I will slay you.’ ”
¹⁸ So David fled and escaped and went to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all Saul had done to him. And David and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth in Ramah. ¹⁹ And it was told to Saul, saying, “Take note, David is at Naioth in Ramah!” ²⁰ Then Saul sent messengers to take David. And when they saw the assembly of prophets and Samuel standing as leader over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. ²¹ And when this was told to Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied as well. Then for a third time Saul sent messengers, and they too prophesied. ²² Now Saul was inflamed with anger, and he too went to Ramah. He came as far as the storage well of the threshing floor in Sechu and asked, saying, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Look, they are in Naioth in Ramah.” ²³ So he went onward to Naioth in Ramah. And then the Spirit of God came upon him too, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴ There he removed his clothes and prophesied before them, and he fell unclothed on the ground all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul among the prophets?”
Jonathan Is Loyal to David
​¹ Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came before Jonathan and said, “What have I done, and what fault is mine? What is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” ² So Jonathan said to him, “There is no fault on your part. You shall not die. Indeed, my father will do nothing either great or small without first telling me. And why should my father hide this thing? It is not so!” ³ Then David answered Jonathan and said, “Your father certainly knows I have found favor in your sight, and Saul has said, ‘Jonathan should not come to know about this. He will not want this to happen.’ But as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, so I say to you, there is only a step between me and death.” ⁴ So Jonathan said to David, “What does your soul desire? What shall I do for you?”
⁵ And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I will not sit with the king to eat. I will hide in the field until evening. ⁶ If your father asks about me, say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might go to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for his whole tribe.’ ⁷ If thus he says, ‘Peace be to your servant’; it is well. But if he answers you harshly, know that he determines to do evil. ⁸ Therefore you shall provide an act of mercy to your servant, for you brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. And if there is wrongdoing in your servant, kill me yourself. Why should you bring me to your father?” ⁹ But Jonathan said, “By no means will I do this to you! For if I know for sure that my father intends evil against you, I will come to you. If otherwise, I will tell you in your cities.”
¹⁰ Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father should answer you harshly?” ¹¹ And Jonathan said to David, “Go and remain in the field.” And they both went out into the field. ¹² Then Jonathan said to David, “The Lord God of Israel knows that I will question my father three times, and behold, should there be good concerning David and I do not send for you in the field, ¹³ may the Lord do this to Jonathan and add to this even more, as also I shall discuss the evil against you. I will disclose it to your ear, and I will send you away. You shall depart in peace, for the Lord will be with you as He was with my father. ¹⁴ In return, you shall deal mercifully with me while I still live, and if I die, ¹⁵ you shall not cut off your mercy from my house forever, even if the Lord does not cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth; ¹⁶ or removes the name of Jonathan from the house of David; or the Lord does seek out the enemies of David.”
¹⁷ And yet again, Jonathan swore to David, for he so loved him as his own soul. ¹⁸ Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the first of the month, and you will be asked about, because your seat will be seen as empty. ¹⁹ You will do this for three days, and you will be looked for. So go to the place where you may be hidden in the day of the deed. You shall wait by that mound. ²⁰ And then I will shoot three arrows, as aiming at a target. ²¹ And behold, I will send a lad, saying, ‘Come here! Find my arrows.’ If I speak to the lad saying, ‘Look, the arrows are here, on this side from you, get them here. Come!’—it is well with you, and as the Lord lives there is no reason to hide. ²² But if I say this to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are there and beyond you,’—you go, for the Lord has sent you away. ²³ And as for the word which you and I discussed, indeed the Lord is a witness between you and me forever.”
²⁴ So David hid in the field, and when the first of the month came, the king sat down to the table to eat. ²⁵ As usual, the king sat on his seat by the wall and arrived before Jonathan. Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was seen as empty. ²⁶ Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something happened so that he is not clean; he has not cleansed himself.” ²⁷ And the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was noticed as being empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the table yesterday or today?” ²⁸ So Jonathan answered Saul and said to him, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem his city. ²⁹ And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our tribe has a sacrifice in the city, and my brothers commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go away safely and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”
³⁰ Then Saul’s anger was aroused greatly against Jonathan, and he said to him, “Son of traitorous girls! Do I not know to your own shame and the shame of your mother’s nakedness that you are an accomplice with the son of Jesse? ³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, your kingdom shall not be established. Now then, send and bring the young man, for he is a son of death.” ³² And Jonathan queried Saul, “Why should he be killed? What did he do?” ³³ Then Saul lifted up a spear against Jonathan to kill him, and Jonathan knew the evil from his father to kill David. ³⁴ So Jonathan leapt up from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month. For he was grieved for David because his father plotted against him.
³⁵ And so in the morning, Jonathan went out to the field at the appointed time, as a testimony for David. A lad was with him. ³⁶ Then he said to his lad, “Run, find for me the arrows I shoot.” As the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. ³⁷ And when the lad came to the place where Jonathan shot the arrow, Jonathan cried out to the lad and said, “There is the arrow beyond you.” ³⁸ And Jonathan cried out after his lad, “Make haste, hurry, do not delay!” So Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows for his master. ³⁹ And the lad knew nothing of what was happening. Only Jonathan and David knew of the matter. ⁴⁰ Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad, and said to the lad, “Go, enter into the city.” ⁴¹ As soon as the lad left, David arose from the mound, fell on his face, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another and wept for each other. ⁴² Then Jonathan said, “Go in peace, and as we both swore in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will be a witness between you and me, and between your seed and my seed, forever.’ ”
​¹ So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.

Psalm 84

​¹ For the End; a psalm for the sons of Korah.
² O Lord, You were pleased with Your land;
You turned back the captivity of Jacob;
³ You forgave the transgressions of Your people;
You covered all their sins.
(Pause)
⁴ You ended all Your wrath;
You turned from the wrath of Your anger.
⁵ Turn us, O God of our salvation,
And turn away Your anger from us.
⁶ Will You be angry with us forever,
Or will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation?
⁷ O God, You will turn and give us life,
And Your people will be glad in You.
⁸ Show us Your mercy, O Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
⁹ I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His holy ones,
And to those who turn their heart to Him.
¹⁰ His salvation is very close at hand to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.
¹¹ Mercy and truth met together;
Righteousness and peace kissed each other;
¹² Truth arose from the earth,
And righteousness looked down from heaven.
¹³ For the Lord will give goodness,
And our land shall yield its fruit.
¹⁴ Righteousness shall go before Him
And establish His footsteps as our pathway.

Proverbs 17:26–30

²⁶ The face of a wise man shows understanding,
But the eyes of the man without discernment are upon the ends of the earth.
²⁷ A son without discernment is wrath to a father
And grief to her who bore him.
²⁸ It is not good to punish a righteous man,
Nor is it holy to plot against righteous princes.
²⁹ He who refrains from uttering a harsh word is intelligent,
And a longsuffering man has discernment.
³⁰ Wisdom shall be imputed to a man without understanding who asks for wisdom,
And anyone who holds his peace will seem to have discernment.

Luke 10:25–42

²⁵ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
²⁹ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
³¹ “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
³² “Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.
³³ “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
³⁴ “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
³⁵ “On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
³⁶ “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
³⁷ And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Mary and Martha Worship and Serve
³⁸ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.
⁴² “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”