North Bible Recap
Walk through the Bible, each week, with clear explanations and practical takeaways.
North Bible Recap
Episode 36: Matthew and 1 Samuel
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What does it look like to follow Jesus when life gets hard, doubts creep in, or you feel unqualified? This week on the North Bible Recap, Pastor Christian and Pastor Sawyer unpack the stories of Matthew, David, Saul, and the Psalms to remind us that God looks at the heart, obedience matters more than appearance, and Jesus remains faithful through every season. From David facing giants to John the Baptist wrestling with doubt, this episode is full of practical encouragement to trust God, stay faithful in the small things, and keep pursuing Him no matter what.
Hello everyone, welcome to North Bible Recap. Super excited to be with you. If you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music Keys, but we would like from you, we would like for you to subscribe so you are the first one to know. If you can leave us a review, that would be amazing. Engage with the with with the podcast and also share this with someone today. Uh Pastor Sawyer uh with me. A little bit different. It's not it's good to be here. It's not Pastor Rodney.
SPEAKER_00I hope that nobody has clicked off yet for not seeing Pastor Rodney, but we're we're excited to dive into it today. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, super excited. We're gonna be covering Matthew. We're gonna continue. Matthew, Pastor Samson, and Pastor Rodney did an incredible job talking about Matthew. Also, first Samuel. We're gonna continue first Samuel, and um, it's gonna be a great episode. So uh Pastor Sawyer, you doing well?
SPEAKER_00Doing good, been enjoying the the North Church reading plan. We've we've had uh last month, I think we had 60 students and leaders turn in the Bible reading plan. So we're reading through Matthew and Samuel together right now, too. I remember go ahead.
SPEAKER_01That's it. I remember the times that it was only three. It was meaningless and one other and one student.
SPEAKER_00That's right. Yeah, we've we've come a long way for sure. We're doing a series right now on the Sermon on the Mount. It's called Blessed Are the Weird. So if you're interested, go to the North Students YouTube page. Check it out.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing. So Matthew chapter nine, um, we are gonna continue. So I think Matthew chapter nine, it's it's the call of one of my, I wouldn't say one of my favorite disciples, it's it's the call of Matthew. Yeah, but to me is the call of the craziest, the wildest person to bring into a group. Unlikely disciple for sure. For sure. So Matthew, which his name was Levi, um, he was a tax collector, and tax collectors were worse than sinners. I mean, they had their own classification of of sin. It was Jesus was accused. Oh, he hangs out with sinners and tax collectors. This is how Walt was. So I want you to think about this. And and Pastor Sawyer, imagine this: you have disciples like Peter, like John, uh, James, and all of a sudden you bring someone who they absolutely despise, yeah, which is the one that is taxing their business.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. He's working for the Roman government who is oppressing the Jewish people, and he's probably lining his own pockets with their money that that that they've earned. So it would be tense for sure. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I I was kind of like trying to, I was having a discipleship conversation yesterday, and they were trying to kind of like understand kind of what what what what bringing Matthew in that circle was. And and and again, I'm this is gonna be a bad example, but this is the best example I could think of, and I think it kind of makes a lot of sense. Like, I'm Latino, I'm Hispanic, you know, and you know, all the things that are happening politically in the world, it's kind of crazy. And I I told this person, you'll imagine illegal immigrants walking with Jesus, and all of a sudden Jesus brings an illegal uh uh a Latino person who calls eyes on the on the on the immigrant, and and for him, it was like, oh, that's how crazy it was for Matthew.
SPEAKER_00So, anyways, or like it could be like Kevin Durant coming back to the thunder next season.
SPEAKER_02That's not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00No, that's how crazy it would be.
SPEAKER_02So this is one of the disciples that Jesus is bringing. So imagine the tension that they are feeling, and this is a great lesson. It's like the grace of God is for everyone, so good, and we are all called to be followers of Jesus. Uh, no matter what our past is, no matter what we have done, our job and our role as Christians is to bring people along. So that's what's happening in Matthew chapter 9. I mean, there is other things, there's a lot of healings. Now, there's something I want to uh talk about. Um, it's it's something that started in Matthew chapter four, verse 23. I'm gonna go back there and I'm gonna read this because this gives us a little bit of what we are about to encounter. In Matthew chapter 4, verse 23 says this it says, and he went through all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. Now, very important. Matthew, as Pastor Samson was uh saying last last week, um, last couple of weeks, that Matthew is the most Jewish um gospel, right? So Matthew, as a Jew, will not call the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of God, because that would be an insult to the audience, because the Jews will not probably listen if they heard, oh, Jesus is just using the kingdom of God so loosely. So something very, very, very important for us to know when we're reading and understanding, because Matthew never calls the kingdom of God the kingdom of God, he always calls it the kingdom of heaven. Uh it says uh proclaiming the kingdom of heaven, healing every disease and affliction among the people. So here we see where that Jesus came to do two things to proclaim the gospel and to heal every disease. And from then on, that's what we see is that Jesus is one healing every disease and is proclaiming the gospel. So they are a couple of sections here in this book where uh Jesus is healing everyone. That's what you say, and heal, and Jesus healed uh the demon-possessed man, or Jesus healed uh leprosy and the leopard. Uh, you see that, and and and when that is happening, you can see that Jesus is kind of like going back into that what he said that he was gonna do in the very beginning. Through the gospel of Matthew, you're gonna see a lot of that. Uh, in chapter nine, we see this where Jesus heals the blind man, he restored the life of a woman, uh, he heals um a person that was unable to speak. Verse 35 says this and Jesus went through all the cities and the villages teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of heaven, uh proclaiming the kingdom and healing every disease and affliction. So here again, it's making Matthew's making this point that Jesus came to proclaim the gospel and to heal. Now, he is portraying Jesus as the savior of the Jews. Right. So the whole point that Matthew is trying to do is to help the Jews understand by following Jesus, you are not being disobedient to the law, right? You're actually following who came to fulfill the law. Uh, Pastor Samson talked about how uh one that was like Moses was going to come. Yeah, um, and and Pastor Samson also talks about that in the Sermon on the Mountain, and the teachings of Jesus are like the teachings of Moses.
SPEAKER_00Oh, cool.
SPEAKER_02So, yeah, very, very interesting. Uh, and when we're reading the Bible, it's understanding what the original audience and the original intent of the author. So every gospel was written, and they they Pastor Samson and Pastor Rodney they explain it beautifully. So if you haven't listened to any of those, go back.
SPEAKER_00That's what's us. Go check that out and then come back.
SPEAKER_02Because, you know, I uh one of the ways that I like to say is that they are portraying Jesus in a different way because they have a different audience. So in here in chapter nine, we see that Jesus came to proclaim the gospel, heal every disease, and that's uh uh what uh what we see.
SPEAKER_00So what's sorry, but just one thing to add what's so cool about that about Matthew's gospel, I think, that's helped me as I've studied it, is on that note, knowing he's writing to the Jews, he quotes so much Old Testament scripture. Yep. So what I've something that I've learned, I learned it from somebody, we'll just say that it was you, um, was to look up every single quotation that he quotes and and see where that is and understand the context because he was proving to them that Jesus is who he said he was. Like you said, and the way he did that was by reminding them he fulfilled this prophecy and this prophecy and this prophecy. You know the scriptures, so now come and come and know Jesus. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So he uh actually there are 12 different fulfillments in the Gospel of Matthew that and you're gonna hear that that phrase often, and he fulfilled the fulfillment for the fulfillment. Uh, he actually, I believe it's either 60 or 68 Old Testament um uh quotations in the in the Gospel of Matthew. So Matthew's goal is to help the Jews understand Jesus is the Messiah. So uh another really cool thing that I I kind of like learned uh a couple of years ago, I'm gonna do my best to explain uh what a chiasm is. So a chiasm, if you can if you're watching, you are if you're listening, I'm sorry. But if you're watching, I'm gonna try to explain kind of what a chiasm is. So a chiasm is going to be like a mountain, but sideways. So both things at the bottom are gonna be parallel, then the two things in the middle are gonna be parallel, and then you're gonna have something in the very tip or top. So, but that it's in the very middle. So when we look at the law of Moses, there are five books. You have uh in that in the five books, it's the same structure, which the book of Levitical is in the very, very middle, right? Which for the Jews in the way that they wrote, whatever was in the middle was the most important thing. That's one of the things that I always say. People all often kind of like dog in the book of Leviticus. I'm like, ah, look at the Leviticus. Who understands that? Yeah, it's just a bunch of laws without under that was the most important book that Moses wrote.
SPEAKER_00So good.
SPEAKER_02And even in the book of Leviticus, there's a chiasm in the in in it, and the middle of of that book is the day of atonement, which was the most important, literally, chapter in in the book of Leviticus. It's like that one day there was so that was gonna atone the sins of humanity. So um there are five different teaching blocks in the book of Matthew, chapter seven, uh, five through seven, which Pastor Sampson uh uh shared this uh last week. Uh, you have chapter 10 through 11, verse 1, that's another teaching block. Uh, Matthew, and and I say this because why did Jesus came to proclaim the gospel to teach? Yeah, so chapter 13, this is the Chaiasm, and this is the most important chapter in the book of Leviticus, where we're gonna end today. Uh, chapter 18 through 19, verse 1 and 2. Uh, Matthew 26, uh, sorry, Matthew 25, uh uh, sorry, Matthew 23 to 25, and it ends in the first two verses of chapter um uh 26, which is are the different the different areas in this book where Jesus is teaching, and when Jesus is not teaching, you're gonna see that Jesus is healing everyone. Yeah, so uh other gospels you're gonna see a lot of different parables in the book of Matthew, you're gonna have specific areas where he only speaks in parables, yeah. It's not throughout the whole the whole book. So, anyways, uh so cool, it's amazing. Yeah, something very, very interesting that I just really like about the the book of Matthew. So uh chapter 11 has the second teaching of uh the second block of the teachings of Jesus, and again it says, and they this is verse 7 as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. So again, he is addressing the crowds, he is teaching to the crowds. Now, um chapter 11. It this it's uh one of the uh chapters and stories that I just it it just shows uh how much God cares about our doubts. So you have John the Baptist, John the Baptist, who was the one that proclaimed that the Lamb of God is here, it's now in prison, yeah, and sends his disciples to Jesus and he asks this question Are you are you the one? Yeah, or should we wait for another one? And Jesus responds and just talks about hey, tell John the the blind uh sees the deaf can hear. He talks about and and it just shows that as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, there will be times where we will doubt. Yeah, there will be times where we might not uh we're gonna doubt, am I doing the right thing? Am I following is this really what God wants me to do? Because when we follow Jesus, often we think that life is going to be perfect, right? And actually, Jesus tells us the opposite, yeah, that because we follow him, we're gonna experience some hardships in life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh so anyway, and this is John the Baptist, yeah, John the Baptist, who 10 verses later in verse 11 of chapter 11, Jesus says, I tell you, among those born of women, among humans, there's nobody greater than John the Baptist. Um, and this guy has been locked up, is in prison, and he is doubting, is Jesus really who he says he is? And he's given his entire life to prophesying that the Messiah is coming. Um it's just incredible to see how God continues to show up. And spoiler alert, the it didn't it didn't end well for John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_01He ended up beheaded.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, but sometimes following Jesus comes with it with a great cost for sure.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So chapter 13, this is where we're gonna end in the book of Matthew. Uh, here is where we have the parables. Here's where we have a section of parables. Now, Matthew has uh specific parables that are unique to Matthew. We're gonna study that and then we're gonna see those in the next episode. But there are some parables that you see in the book of Matthew that you don't see in any other uh book of the Bible. Uh, but I I think it's important for us to understand what a parable kind of like is, um, because it's not anything new. So just to give you an example and just for to kind of like help you understand that um parables are not meant to bring clarity. Often we think, well, Jesus spoke in parables, the simplest way to preach. No, it was actually a very difficult because either you either it brought clarity or it actually hardened your heart.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We see this in uh the one of the first most famous parables that people are gonna know from the old testament is first Samuel, uh, sorry, 2 Samuel chapter 12.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_02Uh, and this is when David uh has the affair with Bathsheba and God sends a proper Nathan. What does Nathan do?
SPEAKER_00He tells him a story, and he's telling him, you know, there is this man who has a some a visitor comes and he takes the sheep or the lamb from from his neighbor, um, even though he had his pick of all of his own sheep, and he takes the one from his neighbor um because he wanted that one instead. He was greedy, and Nathan asks David, what should what should we do to this man? And and David says, What?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's like he always what we want to kill him. He's so mad about this, and Nathan turns and says, You are that man. Yeah. So what Nathan did was to bring a pla uh uh he brought a story, a parable, for David to understand his behavior. Yeah, but actually, David got upset about this sparrow. That was the purpose of a parable was to either bring you into a place where it will harden your heart or you will understand. Oh, that's me.
SPEAKER_00It's almost like a mirror that's forcing you to see yourself and be more self-aware. And that was a baller move by Nathan. I know, right?
SPEAKER_02I'm like, you know, he can get you killed, buddy. But so so what happens in these parables, that's what Jesus is trying to do is to help them see the kingdom of heaven. So good. But he's not trying to get everyone to understand the kingdom of heaven, which is something that I kind of have an issue with that, because I'm like, well, I want this to be clear for everyone. But in here, what Jesus is trying to do is to get the people, because and and and Matthew does a great job that he came, he cut Jesus comes to save Israel because he first comes for the Jews, then to the Gentiles. So the first the the what Matthew is trying to do is to get people to understand that so uh so this parables are not designed to bring clarity. Uh so in Matthew chapter 13, um, verse uh 10, it says, Then the disciples came to Jesus and say, Why do you speak in uh to them in parables? And he answered, To you it has been given, it has been given uh to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. Jesus makes it clear, I speak in parables, and the ones who are going to open their hearts will understand the parabola. But it's so the disciples were even confused about why are you speaking in the in this way? So, anyways, I just say that just to help you understand that sometimes they are parables like the parable of the sower. Very hard to understand. Like, what is Jesus even trying uh to do here? So in uh Matthew chapter 13, all these parables are about the kingdom of heaven, and the first one is about the sower, uh, the weeds, um, there's the monster seed and the leaven, uh, hidden treasures and pearls and the net. All of these parables are showing you what the kingdom of heaven is going uh to be like. So the parable of the weeds, um it's very interesting to me because if you are someone who understands uh plant uh planting, sowing, and reaping, you know that it's impossible not to have any weeds. Yeah, but what do you have to do? You have to let that uh that that seed and that plant to grow and then separate the weed from the weeds. So but you cannot, if you do it too early, you're gonna bring both of them out. Yeah, so anyway, this is just shows show us even how patient Jesus is with us. So, anyways, that's Matthew chapter 9 through chapter 13. We're gonna continue in the next episode for uh next couple of couple couple more. Uh, but we're gonna jump into Samuel.
SPEAKER_00Samuel, listen to this.
SPEAKER_02Who is Samuel?
SPEAKER_00Pastor Sawyer. So Samuel was was a prophet to Israel. Um, his story is amazing. We we talked about it on previous episodes, so go listen to that and how his his mother he was born and he was dedicated to the Lord and he grew up serving the temple, and he ends up becoming the the prophet that God uses to um to deliver the first king to Israel, which is Saul, and we're gonna get into some of his story today.
SPEAKER_02And Pastor Shannon uh just preached an incredible message from Mother's Day. So if you haven't watched that, I will highly encourage you here on our platform to go and watch it because she did an incredible job. Yeah, so now we're gonna be covering chapter 15 through chapter 30. So we're gonna not gonna be able to cover every single detail. So we're gonna just hone in on some of the the the bigger ones. So in chapter 15, it's a very important one. Yeah, here is where God actually rejects Saul. So the people wanted a king. God did not want Israel to have a king, he wanted Yahweh to be their king, yeah, but they wanted to be like the other nations. We need to be very careful what we ask the Lord for because there are things that the Lord will give us because it's just our desire, but it's not really his plan and his will for our life. It was not his will for Israel to have a king, right? And now we have a king that is disobedient. So, and and and the reality is like if you are partial obedient, that's still disobedient. Yeah, I think it was pastor uh pastor uh Rodney, you know, years ago in a sermon, he said, uh if you 90% obedient is still 100% disobedient or something along those lines, and it's like whoa, it is so true. And here's what happened with King Saul God tell him to give him instruction what to do and what not to do, and he partially did what God asked him. He told him, kill everything and everyone, and he spared the life of the king, he kept some of the livestock, and because of it, it cost him kingship. So, um, first Samuel chapter 15, verse 22 says, Has the Lord um has the Lord has great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams. Again, the best thing that we can do to obey the Lord is to do what he says, is not really to offer sacrifices, right? The best thing you need to is not to go in a three-week water fast, the best thing that you can do is to obey what his word said. Yeah, because go ahead.
SPEAKER_00I was just gonna say, like, it's it's what I see in this passage because it says in earlier in there, when you you mentioned that Saul didn't destroy everything, it says that they kept what they thought was good, the things that they thought were good. They thought what they wanted was better for them than what God wanted for them. And and I mean that's the opposite of fearing God. This is thinking that you know you know better. Um man, it's just kind of a heartbreaking passage, really, because Saul, even though he was obviously flawed, he kind of had a decent start um to his kingship, but then it just kept going downhill as time as time went.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so from that moment on, is it got God even said, like, I regret making Saul the king. Yeah, that's a bad place to be when when God blessed you with someone, and then God says something like, I regret giving you that.
SPEAKER_00That that verse at the it's at the end of this chapter where it says the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king of Israel. That verse, and then the verse in um Judges with with Samson when it says that the spirit of the Lord had left him. Yeah, those are the two verses that are just like, Oh man, I don't ever want that to be my story. Where I'm living in disobedience to God and um and you know, I'm not living up to the calling, the mission that he's given me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so good. So, so good. So, chapter 16, this is uh probably my favorite chapter. One of the chapters in the old testament, uh, because I love King David. I don't know what is. Let us know in the comments who is your favorite Bible character. For me, it's David, but it has to do because uh when I was 12 years old, I was prophesied over, and I remember the guy that I don't even remember his name, I just remember that he was prophesying. He says, God calls you like he called the King David since he was in his youth. Those words stuck with me forever. And one of the reasons why I love about uh David, because David was the greatest king of Israel, he says Jesus. But one thing that we often struggle with is that we look at his failures and we say, How could he have been the greatest king? Because often we look at the Bible, not only David's story, but at the whole Bible, and we try to make sense of it morally. And we have to understand that this is not really a moral story, this is a story about God's people and what they did right and what they did wrong, and they got a lot more wrong than right. But what we see is that God still uh protected his people.
SPEAKER_00I think it just makes it more believable too and relatable because the David was the king, he could have probably uh organized it to where all the bad stuff was left out of his story. Um, but it's it's all there the good, the bad, the ugly. So tell us about what uh David's anointing.
SPEAKER_02He was young, he was very young. Probably uh there is a lot of debate on this, but probably between um 15 to 7, 12. Probably a teenager. Yeah, probably a teenager. Uh he wasn't king until later on in his life, probably around his uh when he was 30. Uh but uh the the the thing that is pretty incredible. Actually, I was just checking this when I was going over the notes for the for the podcast. Uh the entire chapter is highlighted in my Bible. Like I highlighted every single every single sentence. Uh, but here's what's important um Israel looked at King Saul and looked at look, he's beautiful, he's tall, yeah, he's strong. And we have to be very careful because um we can see somebody's um charisma and make and and think that they are great and that their heart is in the right place. Yeah, and what the story of David and Saul teaches us in one God makes it very clear with Samuel is that he does not look at the award appearance of people, he looks at the heart. The most important thing in your life and in my life, it's really our character. Yeah, who are we when nobody's looking around?
SPEAKER_00Um, so yeah, even if you don't look the part by the world standards, like God sees your heart and sees what's on the inside, and that's what he he values. And and David is made king of Israel as a as a young man. Uh, it's funny in the story, too. Like, his dad didn't even invite him to the anointing. Yeah, he just left him out to work in the fields.
SPEAKER_02He thought he's this, he's he's just a simple shepherd, he's small, he's little, he's a kid, you know. So didn't invite him. Prophet Samuel said, Do you have another son? When he sees David, immediately he knows that's that's him. That's that's him. But what what is crazy about his story is that he was anointed king and he went back to tend the sheep. Yeah, he was not in work exactly, probably for another couple of years before even was called to into into uh to what for Saul to yeah for Saul. So chapter 17 is the famous story of David and Goliath. And I think that we can learn a lot from David. Oh, yeah. Um, good things and bad things. But I think one of the great things that we can go that we can learn is that when he was anointed king, he went back to take care of the sheep. Then when his father says, Hey, go visit your brother, take them some this tricurity board.
SPEAKER_00They're they're fighting with Saul against the Philistines, they're in they're in the army. So you you preached one time, and you remember you said uh David was the original Doordash.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the original Door Dash driver was David. He just he he took uh his brother some you know bread and and and and cheese and meat, and he hears the Philistine, and he hears how the Philistine is not only uh making fun of Israel, he was making fun of the God of Israel. So but but here's what I was trying to make the point is that when David is in the pasture, he is taking every opportunity by being faithful, what God entrusted him with, actually, his father, he protected the sheep from bears, from lions. So he David was a warrior, he was he was ready. And then when he hears a Philistine, and I'm like, uh, why is nobody fighting this man? And he was a kid.
SPEAKER_00They're scared, yeah. He's still a young, young teenager, maybe young adult at this point, and he's not a warrior.
SPEAKER_02When but what he did when nobody was looking around, it's what prepared him to be able to fight the giant. So I just want to encourage you, you might feel that what you're doing is insignificant in your life. You might be comparing yourself with younger people or older people, but let me tell you that what you're doing right now is preparing you to what God has for you in the future. Now good. David had to fight the giant, yeah, Goliath. Now he kills Goliath, and because of that, actually, he just comes and even works for uh Saul, yeah, which is the man that was the king, the spirit of God was not in him anymore. So now he's going through all of this.
SPEAKER_00Uh uh, he's having pretty much like demons, yeah, like turmoil and spiritual yeah, attacks and everything.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and David was a skillful man, so it's important work in your skills. What is God has given you because he was a great instrument player, he was able to play for Saul. And when the Bible says that when he was playing, he was not a comforted him, yeah. So very, very, very, very, very important. So don't let um um your fears uh to to take over your life, give that to the Lord and step in obedience. So there's gonna be things in your life. I remember the first time I preached in English, I was I'm not, I don't feel like I'm good speaking English right now. Imagine when I was 18 years old, imagine my English all those years ago 15 years ago, 20 years ago. This pastor is crazy, he wants me to preach anything. I can barely speak the language, yeah. But I believe that because I was obedient to the Lord in that moment and I took that opportunity. I'm standing, I'm sitting here today. Yeah, because if I will have left that fear, I will always make excuses. There's gonna be a point you gotta start making excuses and do what God calls you to do.
SPEAKER_00What I what I love about this portion of David's story is like it's a reminder to be who God created you to be, not to be somebody else. In the story where he fights Goliath, it says that Saul puts his armor on David, yeah, but David can't go. And David, I think, says, like, um, I can't go because I'm not used to them, they're not mine. And he took them off. And it's just a reminder to me is like, man, don't put on somebody else's armor. Yeah, be who God created you to be, don't try to be somebody else. And that's what success looks like in in serving the Lord.
SPEAKER_02So chapter 18 on, uh, we see here the friendship between David and Jonathan. Uh, this friendship is one of the most beautiful friendships in the Bible. Like, literally, Jonathan betrayed his father to protect David. Saul, because of uh David's popularity, got very jealous of him. Uh, people were saying people don't help often. I'm like, people don't help. They were singing Saul kill one thousand, but David killed tens of thousands, yeah. You know, so it's like, yes, as a king, I will get pretty upset, probably too, and jealous. Uh, so this is what happened. But Jonathan knew that David was the next king. Now, Jonathan could have killed him because he was supposed he was the crown prince, he was supposed to be the next king after his dad, but he knew that it wasn't him, that it was David, and that friendship this is why it's important. We often talk about our framework of faith and why you need the people of God in your life, because the people of God will help you become who God created you to be. So that's why you need to be in a group, that's why you need to be in discipleship, that's why you need to go to church. Often people will watch a podcast or watch online, and if it's because of health reasons, you're out of town, yes, do those things, but do not stay at home because of uh just convenience or anything. You need the people of God in your life, and scripture see uh teaches us that. So Jonathan uh protects David at chapter 19, anyways. David, um, because of being persecuted by Saul, um, it's now he's on the run, it's on the run, yeah, and it's not he's on the run for a couple of days, right? He's literally on the run for years, yeah. And Saul is trying to get um people to kill him. I mean, not only people to kill him, he is going because he heard oh David is in this town, he's taking an army with him to try to get David to persecute him, somebody who protected him, took care of him. Here's what's wild about his story, and kind of where we're we're kind of like closing here on this on this episode, is that while he's in the in the wall, he had multiple opportunities to kill Saul. Yeah, and he doesn't.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I will not touch the Lord's anointed, is what he says.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and uh now the and the crazy thing is because of that, David is on the run for a longer time, and the people that are with him, and because they're on the run and they leave their families behind, all their family and children are killed and taken, yeah, and his own people, his own soldiers are pretty much trying to kill David, too. But he one of the things that we can learn is that this is why it's so important. I often tell people because it's easy to see a clip on social media and destroy a pastor for getting something wrong, or because of what they're wearing, or whatever that the reason might be. And we can forget that David taught us the most important lesson, like he had the opportunity to kill him, and he did it. Yeah, you have an opportunity to talk negatively about a man or a woman of God, be very careful, yeah. Because if David, who was the king, who had the right, and I what is the thing that he will have killed him, probably God will have not even uh had hold that against him, right? But he even, and we're gonna in the next episode, we're gonna see that he actually when when when Saul is killed, and that's kind of how the book ends. That's one of the Philistines actually give him the sword for him to be killed, um, pretty much kill himself. Um because of that, David it's lamenting, and he's mourning. I mean, think about somebody in your life who caused a lot of pain to you. Yeah, you know, David did not want that for the king of Israel because he saw him as the anointed one. So we need to be very careful about that. So anyway, that's uh the end of uh first Samuel.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so on that note, it kind of segues us perfectly into some of the psalms that we're we're reading this week, and we're talking about today Psalms 70 through 72. And the first one is is Psalm 70, and it's written by David. And the reason that it kind of fits perfectly with what we're what you were just talking about of David on the run is this psalm. Um, we're not quite sure 100% the context of it. You know, some of the psalms in the headings that tell us when David was on the run from Saul or when he was um hiding in the cave or or whatever. This one just says that it was written by David, but the way that he prays in Psalm 70 is so urgent. He's saying, God, come quickly, come come help me fast. Um, it leads many scholars to believe that he probably wrote this either A, when he was on the run from Saul, or B, during uh Absalom's rebellion later in his story. So either way, he was fighting for his life and he turns to God. Um, the type of psalm, it's it's really cool. It's a psalm of remembrance. It actually mirrors another psalm that David wrote in Psalm 40, and he's just kind of reminding God of his prayer. Um, it makes me think of there was this quote that I heard on a podcast that was shared with me, uh missionary named Frank Lawback. Uh, he was talking about prayer, and he said, prayer is like throwing rocks into a swamp, into a lake, a pond, whatever. You throw one rock in, you probably aren't going to notice a difference. It splashes, it sinks to the bottom. You throw 10 rocks in, no difference. A thousand, maybe no difference. But eventually, if you keep throwing rocks over and over, one eventually will break the surface. And then you keep throwing them, you'll have a bridge across. That's sometimes what prayer looks like. We, you know, we want to pray one time and God to answer our prayers. He he can and he might, but not always is that what God has um for us. So David is praying for God to help him. Um, I love this quote from Martin Luther about this psalm. He said, This psalm is a shield, a spear, a thunderbolt, and defense against every attack of fear, presumption, and lukewarmness, which are especially dominant today. So, this is this is written thousands of years ago, and it's still relevant for us today. I want to highlight one verse from this psalm. It's verse five. Um, David writes, but as for me, I'm poor and needy. Come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer, Lord, do not delay. So here, David is crying out to God for a speedy answer. He's crying out to God to help his prayer. Um, and he knew that he could call on God. And it makes me wonder, I don't know, Pastor Christian, if you have anybody in your life, is there somebody that comes to mind if you called them, no matter what time, they would answer the phone?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Billy, probably.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I've got a few people. Billy is one for sure. I've got a few people. Uh me? I don't know. Don't call me because I will probably not answer right away. But I've got a few people in my life that they'll they'll answer the the phone most of the time. But here's the deal God answers every time we we call on him. And the key observation that I see in this psalm is it's kind of cheesy. But being in student ministry, I've kind of learned that sometimes cheesy things are memorable. And it's that when our back is against the wall, who are we gonna call on? Yeah, who are you gonna call? First time we've ever quoted Ghostbusters on the on the Bible recap. It's a record. But when your back's against the wall, when you have nowhere else to go, when you have no other options, who are you going to call? Um, because when we call on God, he answers every single time. That's Psalm 70. And then Psalm 71, the author of this one is actually unknown. Um, scholars say that it was probably maybe David or even Jeremiah that wrote this psalm. Uh, the reason that some think it's Jeremiah is because it's a psalm of lament. It's similar in some of the text to Lamentations. And if you remember from Pastor Rodney's message a few weeks ago, where he taught from the Book of Lamentations, he said that lament prayers, which is what this psalm is, are a form of protest, their way to process, and their path to praise. Um and what's cool about this psalm, we're both pretty young, Pastor Christian, but we're starting to get some gray hair. But this psalm is from the perspective of an older person. Yep. And they're praying and they're saying to God, you know, I've served you and I've trusted in you for for many years, for most of my life. And they're praying to God for help um in their old age, reminiscing on their faith, and they're also renewing their commitment to trust in God. And I want to share this verse, um, two verses. Psalm 71, verse 17 and 18 says this, Since my youth, oh God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come. When I read that, when I was preparing for this, I was reminded of a moment last year from our student conference, Remain Student Conference in 2025. We were finishing up a powerful time of worship and prayer. And I remember walking onto the stage to transition us into whatever was happening next. And I look in front of me and I see this this young man, his name is AJ. At the time he was in fourth grade. So he was uh 10 years old and he was there at the student conference. And I look in the back and I see somebody, I call her Mama B, Rhonda Bergstrausser. At the time she was 66 years old and she was there at the youth conference. And I remember um pointing that out to everyone in the room, like, hey, we've got a 10-year-old, we've got a 66-year-old. You're never too young, you're never too old to follow Jesus. Um, and this psalm reminds me that no matter how old you are, no matter how young you are, um, it's never too late for you or too early for you to trust in God. And then our final psalm today is Psalm 72. And according to the heading, um, we believe that this was written by Solomon. Some people think that maybe it was written by David to Solomon. Um, but either way, it's a psalm that is describing Solomon's reign. Whether it was um prophetic by David or whether it was retrospective by by Solomon, it describes Solomon's reign, and it also prophetically points to the future king, Jesus Christ, um, and it speaks to God's sovereignty over the earth. One verse um from it is Psalm 72, 17. It says, May his name endure forever, may it continue as long as the sun, then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. And this isn't just talking about Solomon, this is talking about the king that is to come. And I saw this um this teaching in a similar way, and the the teacher, the the preacher asked the crowd, what's your great-great-grandfather's name? Do you know your great-great-grandfather's name? Me neither. I don't I don't even know if I know my great-grandfather's name off the top of my head. And what that teaches me and reminds me is that three, four, five generations from now, my name will probably be forgotten. Yeah, your name will probably be forgotten, but there's one name that will last through generation to generation to generation, and it's Jesus. Hebrews 13 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. And it just reminds me that he is unchanging, he will always stay the same. And um, the takeaway from Psalm 72 is this that everything around us may change, but Jesus never will. So we got some cool, cool psalms to on this week's uh episode. So I enjoyed reading through them. So go read them for yourself, read through the Psalms. I'll be honest, it's it's tends to be one of my least favorite books. But when I really dive into the the context and understanding who wrote it, when they wrote it, what it means, oh, it's just such a beautiful, beautiful book to read.
SPEAKER_02So good. I I think that uh I used to say the same thing about Psalms, Pastor Sawyer. Um, um, that it was like, man, I just a lot of crying, a lot of this.
SPEAKER_00It's so emotional.
SPEAKER_02But then I think one once my mother was had her brain tumor, and she had I saw her head open with staples. I was very heartbroken. And I'm like, oh, I could have lost my mother. And I remember when she wasn't there, I was praying like David was praying. And now I'm like, whoa, when you go through some things in your life, you will read this Psalms and feel that you're like, Oh my goodness, I I understand, and I need the Lord to give so good uh ear to my prayers. So I want to encourage you as you are continue um to read, slow down, make notes. We both have a Bible that we can make notes on the side. Uh, but I want to also remind you that this podcast they go along with their scripture reading plan. This is not this is a supplement. We want you to read the word of God uh for yourself. So I want to say thank you for being in this episode, Pastor Sawyer. Thank you for joining. Make sure that you're sharing, liking, subscribing, and we'll see you next week in our North Bible recap.