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
24 and 25, along with Psalms 57 and 142. 1 Samuel
chapter 24. Now it happened when Saul had returned
from following the Philistines that it was told
him, saying, Take note, David is in the wilderness
of En Gedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen
men from all Israel and went to seek David and
his men on the rocks of the wild goats. So he
came to the sheepfolds by the road where there
was a cave, and Saul went in to attend to his
needs. David and his men were staying in the
recesses of the cave. Then the men of David said
to him, This is the day of which the Lord said
to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into
your hand, that you may do to him as it seems
good to you. And David arose and secretly cut
off a corner of Saul's robe. Now it happened
afterward that David's heart troubled him, because
he had cut Saul's robe. And he said to his men,
The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to
my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch out
my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed
of the Lord. So David restrained his servants
with these words, and did not allow them to rise
against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and
went on his way. And David also arose afterward,
went out of the cave, and called out to Saul,
saying, My lord, the king. And when Saul looked
behind him, David stooped with his face to the
earth and bowed down. And David said to Saul,
Why do you listen to the words of men who say
indeed David seeks you harm? Look, this day your
eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today
into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me
to kill you, but my eyes spared you, and I said,
I will not stretch out my hand against my Lord,
for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my father,
see, yes see the corner of your robe in my hand
for in that i cut off the corner of your robe
and did not kill you know and see that there
is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand and
i have not sinned against you yet you hunt my
life to take it let the lord judge between you
and me and let the lord avenge me on you but
my hand shall not be against you as the proverb
of the ancients says wickedness proceeds from
the wicked but my hand shall not be against you
after whom has the king of israel come out Whom
do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? Therefore
let the Lord be judge, and judge between you
and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver
me out of your hand. So it was, when David had
finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul
said, Is this your voice, my son David? And Saul
lifted up his voice and wept. Then he said to
David, You are more righteous than I, for you
have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded
you with evil. And you have shown this day how
you have dealt with me, for when the Lord delivered
me into your hand, you did not kill me. For if
a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away
safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with
good for what you have done to me this day. And
now I know indeed that you shall surely be king,
and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established
in your hand. Therefore swear now to me by the
Lord that you will not cut off my descendants
after me, and that you will not destroy my name
from my father's house. So David swore to Saul,
and Saul went home, but David and his men went
up to the stronghold. Psalm 57 Inscription To
the Chief Musician Set to Do Not Destroy a miktam
of david when he fled from saul into the cave
be merciful to me oh god be merciful to me for
my soul trusts in you and in the shadow of your
wings i will make my refuge until these calamities
have passed by i will cry out to god most high
to god who performs all things for me he shall
send from heaven and save me he reproaches the
one who should swallow me up God shall send forth
his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions.
I lie among the sons of men who are set on fire,
whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their
tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let your glory be above all the
earth. They have prepared a net for my steps.
My soul is bowed down. They have dug a pit before
me. Into the midst of it they themselves have
fallen. Salah. My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast. I will sing and give praise.
Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will
awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O Lord, among
the peoples. I will sing to you among the nations.
For your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and
your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God,
above the heavens. Let your glory be above all
the earth. Psalm 142 Inscription A contemplation
of David, a prayer when he was in the cave. I
cry out to the Lord with my voice. With my voice
to the Lord I make my supplication. I pour out
my complaint before him. I declare before him
my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within
me, then you knew my path. In the way in which
I walk, they have secretly set a snare for me.
Look on my right hand and see, for there is no
one who acknowledges me. Refuge has failed me.
No one cares for my soul. I cried out to you,
O Lord. I said, you are my refuge, my portion
in the land of the living. Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my
persecutors, for they are stronger than I. Bring
my soul out of prison, that I may praise your
name. The righteous shall surround me, for you
shall deal bountifully with me. Then Samuel died,
and the Israelites gathered together and lamented
for him, and buried him at his home in Ramah.
And David arose and went down to the wilderness
of Paran. Now there was a man in Maun, whose
business was in Carmel, and the man was very
rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand
goats, and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of
his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good
understanding and beautiful appearance. But the
man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was
of the house of Caleb. When David heard in the
wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep,
David sent ten young men. And David said to the
young men, Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and
greet him in my name. And thus you shall say
to him who lives in prosperity, Peace be to you,
peace to your house, and peace to all that you
have. Now I have heard that you have shearers.
Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt
them, nor was there anything missing from them
all the while they were in Carmel. Ask your young
men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my
young men find favor in your eyes, for we come
on a feast day. Please give whatever comes to
your hand to your servants and to your son David.
So when David's young men came, they spoke to
Nabal according to all these words in the name
of David and waited. Then Nabal answered David's
servants and said, Who is David, and who is the
son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays
who break away each one from his master. Shall
I then take my bread and my water and my meat
that I have killed for my shearers and give it
to men when I do not know where they are from?
So David's young men turned on their heels and
went back, and they came and told him all these
words. Then David said to his men, Every man
gird on his sword. So every man girded on his
sword, and David also girded on his sword. And
about four hundred men went with David, and two
hundred stayed with the supplies. Now one of
the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying,
Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness
to greet our master, and he reviled them. But
the men were very good to us, and we were not
hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we
accompanied them when we were in the fields.
They were a wall to us both by night and day.
All the time we were with them keeping the sheep.
Now therefore know and consider what you will
do, for harm is determined against our master
and against all his household, for he is such
a scoundrel that one cannot speak to him. Then
Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves
of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already
dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred
clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of
figs, and loaded them on donkeys. And she said
to her servants, Go on before me, see I am coming
after you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
So it was, as she rode on the donkey, that she
went down under cover of the hill. And there
were David and his men coming down toward her,
and she met them. Now David had said, Surely
in vain I have protected all that this fellow
has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed
of all that belongs to him. and he has repaid
me evil for good. May God do so and more also
to the enemies of David, if I leave one male
of all who belong to him by morning light. Now
when Abigail saw David, she dismounted quickly
from the donkey, fell on her face before David,
and bowed down to the ground. So she fell at
his feet and said, On me, my lord, on me, let
this iniquity be, and please let your maidservant
speak in your ears, and hear the words of your
maidservant. Please let not my lord regard this
scoundrel Nabal, for as his name is, so is he.
Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But
I, your maidservant, did not see the young men
of my lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord,
as the lord lives, and as your soul lives, since
the lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed
and from avenging yourself with your own hand,
now then, let your enemies and those who seek
harm for my lord be as Nabal. And now this present,
which your maidservant has brought to my lord,
let it be given to the young men who follow my
lord. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant.
For the Lord will certainly make for my Lord
an enduring house, because my Lord fights the
battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in
you throughout your days. Yet a man has risen
to pursue you and seek your life, but the life
of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of the
living with the Lord your God, and the lives
of your enemies he shall sling out as from the
pocket of a sling. And it shall come to pass,
when the Lord has done for my Lord according
to all the good that he has spoken concerning
you, and has appointed you ruler over Israel,
that this will be no grief to you, nor offense
of heart to my Lord, either that you have shed
blood without cause, or that my Lord has avenged
himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with
my Lord, then remember your maidservant. Then
David said to Abigail, Blessed is the Lord God
of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me.
And blessed is your advice, and blessed are you.
because you have kept me this day from coming
to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my
own hand. For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel
lives, who has kept me back from hurting you,
unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely
by morning light no males would have been left
to Nabal. So David received from her hand what
she had brought him and said to her, Go up in
peace to your house. See, I have heeded your
voice and respected your person. Now Abigail
went to Nabal, and there he was, holding a feast
in his house like the feast of a king. and Nabal's
heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk.
Therefore she told him nothing, little or much,
until morning light. So it was in the morning,
when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife
had told him these things, that his heart died
within him, and he became like a stone. Then
it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord
struck Nabal, and he died. So when David heard
that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the
Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach
from the hand of Nabal, and has kept his servant
from evil. for the Lord has returned the wickedness
of Nabal on his own head. And David sent and
proposed to Abigail to take her as his wife.
When the servants of David had come to Abigail
at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David sent
us to you to ask you to become his wife. Then
she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said,
Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the
feet of the servants of my Lord. So Abigail rose
in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five
of her maidens, and she followed the messengers
of David, and became his wife. David also took
Einom of Jezreel, and so both of them were his
wives. But Saul had given Michal his daughter,
David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who
was from Galim. 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.