How to find help from God (1 Samuel 28)
1 Sam 28:3-25 Amidst the complexities of modern life, many today turn to some sort of spirituality to fill the void, ease anxieties or lift depression. While meditation and the like may be successful in helping people take charge of…
Facing the shadowy side of our character (1 Samuel 27)
1 Sam 27:1-12; 28:2 After the high point of David’s trust in the Lord (1 Sam 26:9-10, 23-24), our reading opens puzzlingly with David’s fears that he might die at Saul’s hands (1 Sam 27:1). Has he lost faith? The…
How to grow in understanding and faithfulness to God (1 Samuel 26)
1 Sam 26:1-25 A friend complained to me that the guys she attracted and went out with seemed to have a phobia about commitment and only wanted a good time with her. Another friend had an outburst once about why…
What is the key to godliness? (1 Sam 25:18-44)
1 Sam 25:18-44 I knew a young man on the ministry team of a church I was involved in who was opinionated and a bit of a know-it-all. I found him irritating and once made some exasperated comment about him…
Handling injustice the wrong way (1 Sam 25:1-22)
1 Sam 25:1-22 Those who hold power today frequently evoke suspicion. Politicians are often assumed to use power for their own benefit, governments are suspected by conspiracy theorists of plotting to control society, bosses at work may be supposed to…
How to read opportunities (1 Samuel 24)
1 Sam 24:1-22 Interpreting correctly what God is doing in our lives is a difficult task. Sometimes situations develop, which look like opportunities: a job offer, the potential for a new relationship, a fresh direction for our life. We see…
God’s will cannot fail (1 Sam 23:15-29)
1 Sam 23:15-29 After four years of theological study in the UK (undergrad and masters), I was running out of financial support. What money I had saved went into previous years of study and my home church was not interested…
How we can overcome self-absorption (1 Sam 23:1-14)
1 Sam 23:1-14 One of the side-effects of suffering, whether it is ongoing illness and pain, a loss of a loved one or injustice and hurt, is that what is happening to us can become all-consuming. There is no emotional…
The Way through Suffering (1 Samuel 22)
1 Sam 22:1-23 In my previous post (The Way Out of Playing the Victim), we have seen Saul’s complaints, his finger pointing, while he laid the blame for his difficulties on others. In the process, he greatly deceived himself and…
The way out of playing the victim (1 Samuel 22)
1 Sam 22:1-23 I was working on reception duty at a Christian youth hostel in Haifa, Israel, when three tourists walked in. ‘Don’t tell her we have any money’, muttered one to the other in Hungarian. They missed their cruise…