That's always a good plan.
Together again, this is the LifeSpring One Year Bible Rewind
and coming to you from right here at LifeSpring Central, Riverside, California,
podcasting since 2004.
I am your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb.
This is the podcast that comes to you every single day,
and we're reading the entire Bible together in a year.
I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome.
The website is lifespringmedia.com.
Today is National Carrot Cake Day.
Yum.
I gotta tell you, I love a great carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting.
Almost as much as I love German chocolate cake.
How about you?
I may just have to bake one today.
Are you a carrot cake fan?
What's your favorite version?
This is History Tuesday.
We'll complete the book of 1 Samuel with the reading of chapters 26 through 31.
Let's begin.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for our time together.
We pray, God, that you would teach us today as we read.
I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
1 Samuel chapter 26
The people of Ziph came to Saul at Gibeah.
David is hiding at the hill of Hekilah near Jashimon, they said.
Saul went to the desert of Ziph, taking with him 3,000 of Israel's best-trained men to search for David.
Saul camped by the road at the hill of Hekilah near Jashimon, but David stayed in the desert.
When he realized Saul had come to the desert for him, David sent spies to confirm that Saul had
arrived. Then David went to the place where Saul had camped. David saw the place where Saul and
Ner's son Abner, the commander of the army, were lying. Saul was lying in the camp, and the troops
were camped around him. David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai, who was Zeruiah's son and
Joab's brother, who will go with me to Saul in the camp. Abishai answered, I'll go with you.
So David and Abishai went amongst Saul's troops that night. Saul was lying asleep inside the camp
with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
Abishai said to David, Today God has turned your enemy over to you. Please let me nail him to the
ground with one stab of the spear. I won't have to do it twice. Don't kill him, David told Abishai.
No one has ever attacked the Lord's anointed king and remained free of guilt.
I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, David added, the Lord will strike him. Either his time will
come when he'll die naturally, or he'll go into battle and be swept away. It would be unthinkable
for me to attack the Lord's anointed king. But please, take that spear near his head and that
jar of water, and let's go. David took the spear and the jar of water near Saul's head, and they
left. All of them were asleep. No one saw them, knew about it, or woke up. The Lord had made them
fall into a deep sleep. David went over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some
distance away. There was a wide space between them. Then David called to the troops and to
Ner's son Abner. Won't you answer, Abner? he asked. Who is calling the king? Abner asked.
David asked Abner, Aren't you a man? Is there anyone like you in Israel? Then why didn't you
guard your master, the king. Someone came to kill his royal majesty. What you've done isn't good.
I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, you are a dead man. You didn't guard your master,
the Lord's anointed king. Look at the king's spear and the jar of water that were near his head.
Saul recognized David's voice. Is that your voice, my servant David? he asked.
It is my voice, your royal majesty, David answered. Why are you pursuing me? he added.
What have I done? What crime have I committed? Your Majesty, please listen to my words.
If the Lord has turned you against me, let him be satisfied with an offering.
But if mere mortals have turned you against me, let them be cursed by the Lord.
They have prevented me from having a share of the Lord's inheritance.
Go and serve other gods, they tell me. Don't let my blood fall to the ground away from the Lord's
presence. The King of Israel has come to search for one flea like someone hunting a partridge in
the hills. My servant David, Saul said, I have sinned. Come back. I will not harm you again
because you valued my life today. I've acted like a fool and made a terrible mistake.
David responded, Here's the king's spear. One of the young men should come over and get it.
The Lord will reward any person who is righteous and faithful. The Lord handed you over to me today,
but I refused to attack the Lord's anointed king. As I placed great value on your life today,
May the Lord place great value on my life and rescue me from all trouble.
Then Saul said, Blessed are you, my servant David.
You will accomplish many things and certainly will succeed.
So David went his way while Saul returned home.
1 Samuel chapter 27
David said to himself, One of these days Saul will sweep me away.
The best thing for me to do is to make sure that I escape to Philistine territory.
Then Saul will give up looking all over Israel for me, and I'll escape from him.
So David went with his six hundred men to King Achish of Gath, Moach's son.
David and his men stayed with Achish at Gath.
Each one had his family, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel,
and Abigail, who had been Nabal's wife, from Carmel.
When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he didn't search for him anymore.
David said to Achish, If you will permit me, let me have a place in one of the outlying towns so
that I can live there. Why should I live in the royal city with you? So Achish immediately gave
him Ziklag, which is why Ziklag still belongs to the kings of Judah today. David stayed in
Philistine territory for one year and four months. Then David and his men went to raid the Geshurites,
the Gerzites, and the Amalekites. They lived in the territory which extends from Talaam to Shur
and Egypt. Whenever David attacked the territory, he left no man or woman alive. He also took sheep,
cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing, and returned to Achish. Achish would ask,
Whom did you raid today? And David would answer, The Negev in Judah, or the portion of the Negev
where the descendants of Jeromiel live, or the portion of the Negev where the Kenites live.
He did not bring a single man or woman back to Gath alive. He thought,
they could tell Achish what I really did. This was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine
territory, and Achish believed David. Achish thought, He has definitely made his own people
in Israel despise him. He'll be my servant from now on. 1 Samuel chapter 28
At that time the Philistines had gathered their army to fight against Israel.
Then Achish said to David, You need to know that you and your men will be going with me into battle.
Very well, David responded to Achish. You will then know what I can do.
Very well, Achish told David. I will make you my bodyguard for life.
Meanwhile, Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his hometown,
Ramah. Saul had rid the land of mediums and psychics.
The Philistines assembled and camped in Shunem. Saul also assembled the whole Israelite army,
and they camped at Gilboa. When Saul looked at the Philistine army, he was very afraid,
terrified. He prayed to the Lord, but the Lord didn't answer him through dreams,
the Urim, or prophets. Saul told his officers, Find me a woman who conjures up the dead,
then I'll go to her and ask for her services. His officers told him, There is a woman at Endor
who conjures up the dead. After disguising himself by putting on other clothes, Saul left with two
men and came to the woman that night. He said to her, Please consult with a dead person for me.
Conjure up the person I request. The woman told him, You know that Saul rid the land of mediums
and psychics. Why are you trying to trap me and have me killed? But Saul took an oath in the Lord's
name. I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, you will not be harmed if you do this. Whom shall I conjure
up for you? the woman asked. Conjure up Samuel for me, he answered. When the woman saw Samuel,
she cried out loudly and asked, Why did you deceive me? You're Saul. Don't be afraid,
the king said to her. What do you see? I see a god rising from the ground,
the woman answered. In what form? he asked her. She answered, An old man is coming up,
and he's wearing a robe. Then Saul knew it was Samuel. Saul knelt down with his face touching
the ground. Samuel asked Saul, Why did you disturb me by conjuring me up? Saul answered, I'm in
serious trouble. The Philistines are at war with me, and God has turned against me and doesn't
answer me anymore, either by the prophets or in dreams, so I've called on you to tell me what to do.
Samuel said, Why are you asking me when the Lord has turned against you and become your enemy?
The Lord has done to you exactly what He spoke through me. The Lord has torn the kingship out
of your hands and given it to your fellow Israelite, David. The Lord is doing this to you today because
you didn't listen to him or unleash his burning anger on Amalek. For the same reasons, the Lord
will hand you and Israel over to the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.
And then the Lord will hand Israel's army over to the Philistines.
Immediately Saul fell flat on the ground. He was frightened by Samuel's words. He also had no
strength left, because he hadn't eaten anything all day or night. The woman came over to Saul and
saw that he was terrified. I listened to you, she told him, and I took my life in my hands when I
did what you told me to do. Now please listen to me. I will serve you something to eat. Eat it so
that you will have strength when you leave. But he refused. I don't want to eat, he said.
Nevertheless, his officers and the woman kept urging him until he listened to them. So he got
up from the ground and sat on the bed. The woman immediately butchered a fattened calf that she
owned. She took flour, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread. Then she served it to Saul and
his officers. They ate and left that same night. 1 Samuel chapter 29. The Philistines assembled
their whole army at Aphek, and Israel camped at the spring in Jezreel. The Philistine leaders were
marching by with their companies and regiments. David and his men were marching in the rear with
Achish. The Philistine officers asked, What are these Hebrews doing here? Achish asked the Philistine
officers, Isn't this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me now for a year
or two? I found nothing wrong with him from the day he defected until now. But the Philistine
officers were angry with Achish. Send the man back, the Philistine officers told him. Return him to
the place you assigned him. He shouldn't go with us into battle. He shouldn't be allowed to become
our enemy during the battle. Is this man going to try to regain his master's favor? He'll do it with
the lives of our men. Isn't this David of whom people sing in dances, Saul has defeated thousands,
but David tens of thousands? Then Achish called David and told him, I solemnly swear as the Lord
lives, you are a dependable man. I consider your campaigning with me a good thing, because I've
never found anything wrong with you from the day you came to me until now. But the rulers don't
approve of you, so leave peaceably without doing anything to displease the Philistine rulers.
What have I done? David asked Achish. What have you learned about me from the time I came to you
until now? Why shouldn't I fight your enemies, your majesty? Achish answered David. I admit that in
my judgment, you're as good as God's messenger. However, the Philistine officers said, He shouldn't
go into battle with us. Get up early in the morning with Saul's servants who came with you,
and go to the place I have assigned to you. Don't worry about the unkind words, because I still
approve of you. Get up in the morning and leave when it's light. Early the next morning, David and
his men returned to Philistine territory, while the Philistines went to Jezreel.
1 Samuel 30. David and his men arrived in Ziklag on the third day. The Amalekites had raided the
Negev and attacked and burned down Ziklag. They also had kidnapped the women and everyone in it,
from the youngest to the oldest. They had killed no one, but they had carried them off as they went
on their way. When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned down. Their wives,
sons, and daughters had been kidnapped. David and the troops with him wept loudly until they
strength left to weep. David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow
of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped. David was in a difficult position because
the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their
sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.
David said to Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." So Abiathar
brought it to him, and David asked the Lord, Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?
The Lord replied to him, Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them and rescue the people.
David and the six hundred men with him went as far as the Wadi Bezor, where two hundred men who
were to remain behind would stop. They stopped because they were too exhausted to cross the
Wadi Bezor. David and four hundred of the men continued in pursuit. They found an Egyptian in
the open country and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink.
Then they gave him some pressed figs and two clusters of raisins. After he ate, he revived,
for he hadn't eaten food or drunk water for three days and three nights.
Then David said to him, Who do you belong to? Where are you from? I am an Egyptian,
the slave of an Amalekite man, he said. My master abandoned me when I got sick three days ago.
We raided the south country of the Carathites, the territory of Judah, and the south country of Caleb,
and we burned down Ziklag. David then asked him, Will you lead me to these raiders? He said,
Swear to me by God that you won't kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.
So he led them, and there were the Amalekites, spread out over the entire area, eating, drinking,
and celebrating because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the
Philistines and the land of Judah. David slaughtered them from twilight until the
evening of the next day. None of them escaped except four hundred young men who got on camels
and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken. He also rescued his two wives.
Nothing of theirs was missing from the youngest to the oldest, including the sons and daughters,
of all the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David got everything back. He took all the sheep and
cattle, which were driven ahead of the other livestock, and the people shouted, This is David's
plunder. When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to go with him,
and had been left at the Wadi Bezor, they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him.
When David approached the men, he greeted them, but all the corrupt and worthless men among those
who had gone with David argued, Because they didn't go with us, we will not give any of the
plunder we recovered to them, except for each man's wife and children. They may take them and go.
But David said, My brothers, you must not do this with what the Lord has given us.
He protected us and handed over to us the raiders who came against us.
Who can agree to your proposal? The share of the one who goes into battle is to be the same as the
share of the one who remains with the supplies. They will share equally. And it has been so from
that day forward. David established this policy as a law and as an ordinance for Israel, and it
continues to this very day. When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of his plunder to his friends,
the elders of Judah, saying, Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord's enemies.
He sent gifts to those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negev, and in Jadar, to those in Aror,
in Sifmoth, and in Eshtimoah, to those in Rakil, in the towns of the Jeromielites,
and in the towns of the Kenites, to those in Horma, in Boratian, and in Athak, to those in Hebron,
and to those in all the places where David and his men had roamed. 1 Samuel chapter 31.
The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel's men fled from them. Many were killed on Mount
Gilboa. The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons and killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab,
and Malchishua. When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers caught up with him,
and severely wounded him. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and run me through
with it, for these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me. But his armor-bearer
would not do it, because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it. When his armor-bearer
saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. So on that day Saul died,
together with his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men. When the men of Israel on the
other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel's men had run away,
and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines
came and settled in them. The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead,
they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. They cut off Saul's head,
stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread
the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people. Then they put his armor in the
temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Bethshan. When the residents of Jabesh
Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their brave men set out, journeyed at night,
and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan. When they
arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. Afterward, they took their bones and buried them
under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days. I have comments today on chapters 26, 27,
and 28. In chapter 26, once more, David passes on an opportunity to take out Saul because David
refuses to touch God's anointed, even though he knows that Saul is unjustly after his blood.
David knows that God has promised to give the throne to him, and he won't force the issue by
taking matters into his own hands. Have you ever heard the phrase, God helps those who help
themselves? Well, wouldn't it make sense for David to take advantage of the situation here?
Well, not really, because that phrase is not in the Bible. God gave David the promise,
and it's up to God to make it come to pass. It is not up to David, and David knows it.
When David shows Saul the spear in the water jug, Saul is finally convinced that David is not after
him, and we have no more recorded instances that they ever saw each other again. So what of David's
statement at the beginning of chapter 27 that, quote, one of these days Saul will sweep me away,
unquote. David may have convinced Saul, but David doesn't trust Saul, and he's having an episode of
weak faith here. If his faith was strong, he would know that there is no way God will allow
Saul to harm him. I've known some wonderful men of God who sometimes had doubts. I myself have had,
and by the way, I'm not equating myself with the men of God that I've known, but I've had doubts
in my own life where I wasn't sure of God's will for my life or whether I was even on God's radar.
This is a good reminder to pray for our pastors and other people in our lives who come under
attack. Our leaders, whether they be spiritual leaders or family leaders or governmental leaders,
often come under really intense pressure from all kinds of sources, even those who we think
are pillars of strength. In their hearts, they sometimes doubt. Pray for them. Encourage them.
Lift them up. Now, in chapter 28, it's a little bit comical. Saul seldom fails to do the wrong
thing, does he? He's terrified at the prospect of fighting the Philistines who've gathered an army
to fight Israel. Had Saul been willing to turn to God? Had he truly repented of his previous sinful
actions? He wouldn't be facing the Philistines here and now, and God would be his closest ally.
But now Saul receives no comfort or guidance from the Lord. So Saul decides that if God won't answer
him, the next best thing is to go to see a psychic. Makes sense to me. Let's conjure up a dead person.
That's always a good plan. Let's conjure up a man of God. Unbelievable. So the psychic, or witch,
as some translations have it, does see something, but what she sees cannot be Samuel because,
A, this practice is against God's law. B, we know from Luke 16, verses 19 through 31,
that God does not allow the dead to communicate with the living, and, C, the message from this
demonic spirit is meant to discourage and defeat Saul. The real Samuel would have told him to return
to God, to ask forgiveness. This demon reminds Saul of his failures and wraps up by telling Saul
that he and his sons will be dead tomorrow. This, by the way, is one of Satan's favorite ploys.
He loves to remind us of our failures, of our sins,
even sins that we have already taken to God and turned from,
sins that we have asked forgiveness for.
1 John 1.9 tells us that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us.
Psalm 103.12 tells us that God removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.
But Satan tries to dredge them back up and rub our nose in them.
He wants us to feel defeated and unworthy to do anything for God.
Satan is a liar.
He's a cheater.
He's a thief.
Don't listen to him.
And don't ever put yourself in the position Saul put himself in here by voluntarily seeking
him out.
That's just stupid, stupid, stupid.
Pardon my French.
What do you think?
Today's verse of the day is 1 Samuel 29.5. Isn't this David, of whom people sing and dances,
Saul has defeated thousands, but David tens of thousands? 1 Samuel 29.5.
On this date in church history, February 3rd. We often think of the Reformation as a movement
of ideas, but every great movement needs a vehicle. On February 3, 1468, a man died in
Germany who provided that vehicle, though he never lived to see the revolution he sparked.
His name was Johannes Gutenberg. To understand his impact, you have to imagine a world where
a single Bible cost as much as a small farm and took a scribe a full year to copy by hand.
In that world, the Word of God was physically locked away in monasteries,
and literacy was a gate-kept luxury.
Gutenberg, a goldsmith by trade, spent years in secret
perfecting a way to cast individual metal letters
that could be rearranged and reused.
When he finally printed his famous 42-line Bible,
he didn't just invent a machine, he broke a monopoly.
His press combined the mechanics of a wine press
with durable metal alloys,
allowing for speed, scale, and, crucially, accuracy.
For the first time, every copy of a text was identical.
That meant that when theological debates arose, everyone was finally on the same page, literally.
Church historians often call Gutenberg's press the information superhighway of the 16th century.
Without him, Martin Luther might have remained a local monk with a few complaints.
Instead, because of the press, Luther's 95 theses were translated, printed, and spread across Europe in just weeks.
Yes, Gutenberg made the priesthood of all believers a practical reality because, for the first time, the believers could actually afford to own the book.
Gutenberg died in relative obscurity, but his legacy is found in every pew and on every bookshelf today.
He proved that when the word is unleashed, the world changes.
And I'll just add this.
When God woke me from a deep sleep in 2004 while I was on a Cub Scout camping trip in the Joshua Tree National Park desert here in Southern California with my two youngest sons to call me to begin what would end up being the world's first Christian podcast, not based on repurposed church sermons,
one of the things he said to me that early morning was that the Gutenberg Press was really the very first form of mass media, and the first thing that came from it was the Gutenberg Bible.
Then he said that he wanted to be a part of this new mass medium called podcasting,
and he wanted me to start a podcast that proclaimed his name.
That camping trip was in October 2004,
and the first episode of the Lifespring podcast was published on November 13, 2004.
I've published well over 4,000 episodes since then,
and I truly have no idea how many millions of downloads there have been.
I haven't kept records because, in my mind, it's up to the Lord to do with the show what He will.
I simply try to do my best to create shows that he calls me to do with as high quality as I'm able to produce.
I certainly don't do it for recognition or money because there is very little of either.
I do it because he called me, period.
And when the time comes that I can no longer do it because of health or I'm no longer able to sustain the show financially,
I'll shut off this microphone for the last time.
Anyway, when I saw that this is the date that Johannes Gutenberg went to be with the Lord,
I couldn't not talk about him on the show.
Speaking of finances, it is through the generosity of the Lifespring family that I can bring the
Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind to you each day.
Have you donated yet?
The only income the show has is through your value-for-value donations and whatever I can
pull out of my wallet.
The show needs your support.
And I'm speaking now to those of you who listen regularly.
Obviously, the show brings value to your life in some way.
Would you miss it if it stopped showing up in your podcast app?
If so, I'm asking you to, maybe for the first time,
really pray about whether the Lord would have you make a donation.
Ask Him what He would have you do.
And then, in faith, obey Him.
That's all I ask.
Time, talent, or treasure.
Now is the time.
Well, tomorrow is Wednesday.
You know what that means.
Praises and prayer requests.
It means that now's the time to go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com to share with me and the Lifespring family.
We'll rejoice with you for what praiseworthy things God has done in your life,
and we'll pray with you and for you about the things you need His touch for.
We are the Lifespring family, and family shares with family.
It doesn't work if you don't participate. That's prayer.lifespringmedia.com.
Beloved, even when we know God's promises, it can be easy to let fear or the enemy's lies cloud
our vision. Let's choose to trust in God's timing and his forgiveness rather than taking matters into
our own hands or listening to the voice of defeat. Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you
for inviting me to be a part of your day. I can't wait to see you again tomorrow. My name is Steve
Webb. Bye. All the programs in the Lifespring Media family are made possible by your value-for-value
support. Thank you. The Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind is a Lifespring Media production hosted by
Steve Webb, the OG Godcaster
since 2004.