Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 1 Samuel chapters
22 and 23, along with Psalms 56, 34, 52, and
63. Psalm 56, inscription to the chief musician,
set to the silent dove in distant lands, a michtem
of David when the Philistines captured him in
Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for man would
swallow me up. Fighting all day, he oppresses
me. My enemies would hound me all day, for there
are many who fight against me almost high. Whenever
I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, I will
praise his word. In God, I have put my trust.
I will not fear. What can flesh do to me? All
day, they twist my words. All their thoughts
are against me for evil. They gather together.
They hide. They mark my steps when they lie in
wait for my life. Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God. You number
my wanderings, put my tears into your bottle.
Are they not in your book? When I cry out to
you, then my enemies will turn back. This I know,
because God is for me. In God I will praise his
word. In the Lord I will praise his word. In
God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me? Vows made to you are binding
upon me, O God. I will render praises to you,
for you have delivered my soul from death. Have
you not kept my feet from falling, that I may
walk before God in the light of the living? Psalm
34 Inscription A Psalm of David, when he pretended
madness before Abimelech, who drove him away,
and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praise shall continually be in my
mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord.
The humble shall hear of it and be glad. O magnify
the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered
me from all my fears. They looked to him and
were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel
of the Lord encamps all around those who fear
him, and delivers them. O taste and see that
the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts
in him. O fear the Lord, you his saints. There
is no want to those who fear him. The young lions
lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the
Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come, you
children, listen to me. I will teach you the
fear of the Lord, who is the man who desires
life and loves many days, that he may see good.
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from
speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord
are on the righteous, and his ears are open to
their cry. The face of the Lord is against those
who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them
from the earth. The righteous cry out and the
Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their
troubles. The Lord is near to those who have
a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite
spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He
guards all his bones, not one of them is broken.
evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate
the righteous shall be condemned the lord redeems
the soul of his servants and none of those who
trust in him shall be condemned first samuel
chapter 22 david therefore departed from there
and escaped to the cave of adulam so when his
brothers and all his father's house heard it
they went down there to him And everyone who
was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and
everyone who was discontented gathered to him.
So he became captain over them, and there were
about four hundred men with him. Then David went
from there to Mizpah of Moab. And he said to
the king of Moab, Please let my father and mother
come here with you, till I know what God will
do for me. So he brought them before the king
of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time
that David was in the stronghold. Now the prophet
Gad said to David, Do not stay in the stronghold.
Depart and go to the land of Judah. So David
departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
When Saul heard that David and the men who were
with him had been discovered, now Saul was staying
in Gibeah under a tamarisk tree in Ramah, with
his spear in his hand and all his servants standing
about him. Then Saul said to his servants who
stood about him, Here now, you Benjamites, will
the son of Jesse give every one of you fields
and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands
and captains of hundreds? All of you have conspired
against me, and there is no one who reveals to
me that my son has made a covenant with the son
of Jesse. And there is not one of you who is
sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has
stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait
as it is this day. Then answered Doeg the Edomite,
who was set over the servants of Saul, and said,
I saw the son of Jesse going to Nob, to Ahimelech,
the son of Ahitob. And he inquired of the Lord
for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the
sword of Goliath the Philistine. So the king
sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of
Ahitob, and all his father's house, the priests
who were in Nob. And they all came to the king.
And Saul said, Here now, son of Ahitob. He answered,
Here I am, my lord. Then Saul said to him, Why
have you conspired against me, you and the son
of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and
a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that
he should rise against me to lie in wait as it
is this day? So Ahimelech answered the king and
said, And who among all your servants is as faithful
as David? Who is the king's son -in -law, who
goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your
house? Did I then begin to inquire of God for
him? Far be it from me. Let not the king impute
anything to his servant, or to any in the house
of my father. for your servant knew nothing of
all this, little or much. And the king said,
You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all
your father's house. Then the king said to the
guards who stood about him, Turn and kill the
priests of the Lord, because their hand also
is with David, and because they knew when he
fled and did not tell it to me. But the servants
of the king would not lift their hands to strike
the priests of the Lord. And the king said to
Duwaig, You turn and kill the priests. So Duwaig
the Edomite turned and struck the priests, and
killed on that day eighty -five men who wore
a linen ephod. Also Nob, the city of the priests,
he struck with the edge of the sword, both men
and women, children and nursing infants, oxen
and donkeys and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
Now one of the sons of Ahimelech, the son of
Ahitob, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after
David. And Abiathar told David that Saul had
killed the Lord's priests. So David said to Abiathar,
I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there,
that he would surely tell Saul, I have caused
the death of all the persons of your father's
house. Stay with me, do not fear, for he who
seeks my life seeks your life, but with me you
shall be safe. Psalm 52 Inscription To the chief
musician A contemplation of David, when the egg
the Edomite went and told Saul and said to him,
David has gone to the house of Ahimelech. Why
do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness
of God endures continually. Your tongue devises
destruction, like a sharp razor working deceitfully.
You love evil more than good, lying rather than
speaking righteousness. Salah. You love all devouring
words, you deceitful tongue. God shall likewise
destroy you forever. He shall take you away and
pluck you out of your dwelling place, and uproot
you from the land of the living. Salah. The righteous
also shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him,
saying, Here is the man who did not make God
his strength, but trusted in the abundance of
his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
But I am like a green olive tree in the house
of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and
ever. I will praise you forever, because you
have done it. And in the presence of your saints,
I will wait on your name, for it is good. Then
they told David, saying, Look, the Philistines
are fighting against Calah, and they are robbing
the threshing floors. Therefore David inquired
of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and attack these
Philistines? And the Lord said to David, Go and
attack the Philistines and save Calah. But David's
men said to him, Look, we are afraid here in
Judah. How much more then if we go to Calah against
the armies of the Philistines? Then David inquired
of the Lord once again. And the Lord answered
him and said, Arise, go down to Calah, for I
will deliver the Philistines in your hand. And
David and his men went to Calah and fought with
the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow,
and took away their livestock. So David saved
the inhabitants of Calah. Now it happened when
Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at
Calah, that he went down with an ephod in his
hand. And Saul was told that David had gone to
Calah. So Saul said, God has delivered him into
my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering
a town that has gates and bars. Then Saul called
all the people together for war, to go down to
Calah to besiege David and his men. When David
knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said
to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod here.
Then David said, O Lord God of Israel, your servant
has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to
Calah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the
men of Calah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul
come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord
God of Israel, I pray, tell your servant. And
the Lord said, He will come down. Then David
said, Will the men of Calah deliver me and my
men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said,
They will deliver you. So David and his men,
about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah,
and went wherever they could go. Then it was
told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah,
so he halted the expedition. And David stayed
in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained
in the mountains in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul
sought him every day, but God did not deliver
him into his hand. So David saw that Saul had
come out to seek his life, and David was in the
wilderness of Ziph in a forest. Then Jonathan,
Saul's son, arose and went to David in the woods
and strengthened his hand in God. And he said
to him, Do not fear, for the hand of Saul, my
father, shall not find you. You shall be king
over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even
my father Saul knows that. So the two of them
made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed
in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah,
saying, Is David not hiding with us in strongholds
in the woods, in the hill of Hakila, which is
on the south of Jeshimon? Now therefore, O king,
come down according to all the desire of your
soul to come down and our part shall be to deliver
him into the king's hand. And Saul said, Blessed
are you of the Lord, for you have compassion
on me. Please go and find out for sure and see
the place where his hideout is and who has seen
him there. For I am told he is very crafty. See
therefore and take knowledge of all the lurking
places where he hides and come back to me with
certainty and I will go with you. And it shall
be, if he is in the land, that I will search
for him throughout all the clans of Judah. So
they arose and went as if before Saul. But David
and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in
a plain on the south of Jeshimon. When Saul and
his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore
he went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness
of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued
David in the wilderness of Maon. Then Saul went
on one side of the mountain, and David and his
men on the other side of the mountain. So David
made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and
his men were encircling David and his men to
take them. But a messenger came to Saul, saying,
Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded
the land. Therefore Saul returned from pursuing
David and went against the Philistines. So they
called that place the Rock of Escape. Then David
went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at
Ein Gedi. Psalm 63 A Psalm of David when he was
in the wilderness of Judah O God, you are my
God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for
you. My flesh longs for you. In a dry and thirsty
land where there is no water. So I have looked
for you in the sanctuary to see your power and
your glory. Because your loving kindness is better
than life. My lips shall praise you. Thus I will
bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands
in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with
marrow and fatness. And my mouth shall praise
you with joyful lips. When I remember you on
my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches,
because you have been my help. Therefore, in
the shadow of your wings I will rejoice. My soul
follows close behind you. Your right hand upholds
me, but those who seek my life to destroy it
shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They
shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion
for jackals, but the king shall rejoice in God.
Everyone who swears by him shall glory, but the
mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as
I did and I look forward to seeing you again
tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless
you and have a great day.