THE LORD'S DELIGHTS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31:8-13
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When David was told that it was the men of Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul, he sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead to say to them, "The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them."

2 Samuel 2:4b-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

At the end of 1st Samuel, we read of Saul’s death…how he fell on his own sword after being critically injured by the Philistines. He did this to avoid being killed by them but as we read in Chapter 31, the Philistines didn’t stop from abusing Saul even when dead.

For scripture tells us that they beheaded him, stripped him of his armor, placed his armor in the idol worshipping temple of the Ashtoreths and then fastened him and his sons to the wall of Beth Shan. One might have thought it was a fitting end to Saul given his disobedient sinfulness but not all saw Saul that way.

As we should recall, David certainly didn’t hold Saul’s murderous attitude against him but instead refused to kill Saul when the opportunity presented itself because Saul, despite his faults, was still an anointed one of God…the king of Israel.

Scripture tells us that the people of Jabesh Gilead had similar feelings for the fallen king. For after hearing about what the Philistines had done to their king, they “journeyed through the night to Beth Shan” and “took down the bodies of Saul and his sons”. They then took the bodies to Jabesh where they cremated them and gave them a proper burial, placing their bones “under a tamarisk tree” before fasting seven days in mourning for what had happened.

In the second chapter of 2nd Samuel, we read where David, the newly anointed king of Judah, gets word about what the people of Jabesh Gilead for Saul. And so he “sent messengers to the men of Jabesh Gilead” to give them the following word:

"The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them."

Through these words, we see David acknowledging the actions of Jabesh Gilead as not only acts of reverence but acts of kindness. There was a degree of risk involved to go and retrieve the bodies of Saul and his sons but the people of Jabesh Gilead shirked any danger to do the right thing…the kind thing…in honor of Saul and his sons.

For their actions, we read where David wishes for the Lord’s blessings to be upon the people of Jabesh Gilead…blessings of faithfulness and kindness and favor…blessings that David himself promised them as well. And then David did something else that would be important to his coming ascent into leadership over all of Israel. He acknowledged that the people of Jabesh Gilead had lost their king but assured them that all was going to be fine…that they were to be strong and brave for he had been anointed king over them. Saul, God’s first anointed king, had died but God had anointed a relief…and his name was David.

At the heart of this passage we see the theme of kindness. Kindness showed to a deceased Saul and his sons by the people of Jabesh Gilead…kindness hoped for by the Lord for the kindness they displayed…and kindness and favor granted to them by David.

Kindness should be important to us as well. It should be important because God expects it. Consider this passage from Jeremiah:

This is what the Lord says:

"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24

If we’re in the Lord…and we should be because He created us in His own image (Genesis 1:27)…then we should exercise all the things that He exercises…righteousness, justice and kindness on earth.

Why?

Because the Lord delights in these things. He favors and blesses those who live for Him and allow Him to guide and lead them in life. For those He leads and guides exercises all the things He delights in because He is with them and in them…embedded in their very spirit. And when the Lord is embedded in our spirit, then we begin to bear fruits of that spirit…fruits that scriptures tells us include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The Lord was embedded in the hearts of the people of Jabesh Gilead and led them to bless a fallen Saul and his sons with a suitable burial.

What act of kindness will you allow the Lord to do through you?

Allow His Spirit to enter your heart and mind…fully surrender to Him and start to bear the fruit that He will harvest within you…and the Lord will take care of the rest, leading you to more opportunities to be kind and loving to others that you could ever ask for. And He’ll do it because He delights in these things…and wants to delight in you as well. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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