Turning aside anger

After 1 Samuel 25:1-44 

An arrogant, unthinking word,

spoken without care or thought,

evokes a response of revenge

and destruction, swords belted

and unsheathed, their bearers

determined to cut a swath,

hew down, destroy in anger

and recrimination. And yet

a voice, a single voice,

meets the sword head on,

risking her own life, seeking

forgiveness for one who

didn’t deserve it. Anger

seeking vengeance for arrogance

and insult is set aside. The voice

is heeded, the petition for mercy

granted. And it is God who

answers the sin with judgment.

 

Photograph by Marcus Paulo Prado via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Rock of Ages,” hymn by Augustus Toplady – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

Why Euthanasia Feels Intuitive – Time Challies.

 

“God, that Madest Earth and Heaven,” hymn by Reginald Heber and Richard Whately – Anthony Esolen at Word and Song/

 

The Other Side of Human Rights – Seth Lewis.

 

Hilda and Caedmon – poem by Malcolm Guite.

A weak man

After 1 Samuel 23-24 

A weak man 

fears his servant. 

A weak man 

is jealous of his 

servant’s success.

A weak man 

convinces himself 

that his servant

is a threat and 

must be destroyed. 

A weak man ignores

real threats to hurt

the servant he fears.

A weak man sacrifices

his throne, sacrifices

his family, sacrifices

his life.

 

Photograph by Romuald Charpentier via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Frequency: Hearing God Speak Above the Waves – poem by Jody Lee Collins. 

 

Are We Slow to Speak and Rush to Judgment on Social Media? – Randy Alcorn at Eternal Perspective Ministries.

 

The Collision of Joy and Tragedy – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

 

Sweetness and Light – David Torkington at The Imaginative Conservative.

The contrast

After 1 Samuel 23-24 

The contrast startles:

one man, determined

to hunt down and

destroy, the other

who is chased,

dodging capture and

death, even when

his pursuer is

handed to him,

placed within reach

of a sword or knife.

Instead, the hunted

man holds back,

knowing his place,

knowing it’s not

for him to slay

an anointed king,

even if the world

would cheer. Instead,

he remains mindful

of his allegiance,

his faith, and he

sheaths his sword.

The unjust pursuer

is spared; the pursued

will ultimately be

blessed.

 

Photograph by Judesvoyage via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“From Shadow,” poem by Duncan Campbell Scott – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

A Different Kind of Ambition – Michael Kelley at Forward Progress.

 

A Significant Action for a Ministry to Move from Addition to Multiplication – Eric Geiger.

 

“Soldiers of Christ, Arise,” hymn by Charles Wesley – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

A Bridge Through Time – poem by Seth Lewis.

Betrayed and hunted

After 1 Samuel 23-24 

No good deed goes

unpunished, as he 

learns for saving

a city. He knows

only because he

asks in prayer, 

prayer answered if

not with welcome

news. So he prays

and waits. He’s

chased and hunted,

and he prays, and

he waits. He never

anticipates; he never

asks without seeking

and receiving, 

his answer. If

the news is

unwelcome,

he accepts

it anyway.

 

Photograph by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Expand Your Family at Church – Marissa Martinez at The Gospel Coalition.

 

On Knowing Your Responsibilities – O. Alan Noble at You Are Not Your Own.

 

20 Inspiring Christian Documentaries – Brett McCracken at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Doubters Like Me – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

A wife's dilemma

After 1 Samuel 18:20-19:24 

What happens when 

a wife is forced to choose

between a father and

a husband? How is the wife’s 

heart torn apart, knowing 

she must betray a father 

to protect a husband? 

This woman, forced

to choose, doesn’t

hesitate. She makes

her choice: protect

her husband. Perhaps

she knows her father’s

darkness, her husband’s

light. Perhaps she heard

the voice of God, guiding

her to protect and not

to abet murder. She pays

the price every choice

demands.

 

Photograph by Letizia Bordoni via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

More than a Welcome: Why Calling Your Church to Worship Really Matters – Barnabas Piper at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

 

This is Not a Soapbox – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

 

St. Ciaran’s Fox – poem by Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street. 

Spirit departs

After 1 Samuel 18:12-18 

What happens when

the spirit, the anointing

departs? The knowledge

of abandonment, 

the vacuum of absence,

the pain is loss all aching

to be filled, and filled

it is, with its opposite,

a curse, an evil spirit

taking control, control

of the heart. The jealousy

grows, the fear escalates,

anything becomes

acceptable to control

the fear, to tame what

is now seen as the enemy.

The spirit of light departs;

the spirit of darkness has

arrived.

 

Photograph by Nsey Benajah via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“The Withered Leaf,” poem by William Lisle Bowles – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

Many Things Keep Happening – Spencer Klavan at The New Jerusalem.

 

Stone and Flesh – poem by Alex Kneen at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

“Through Every Age, Eternal God,” hymn by Isaac Watts – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Clouds – poem by Seth Lewis.

A king's jealousy

After 1 Samuel 18:8-16 

To hear a warrior praised

for his success, his deeds,

greater than the king’s

success and deeds, and

suddenly the music and

songs of celebration

fall away, leaving silence,

a dread silence, in the ears

of the king. The silence

of pride and jealousy provides

the opening for a spirit,

evil and malicious, to enter

a king’s heart. He bides

his time; he doesn’t strike

yet. He waits until he hears

the warrior play the lyre,

and without warning 

the king hurls a spear.

He misses, twice, but

he still bides his time.

 

Photograph by Peter Forster via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

What is “Shalom” According to Scripture? – Hugh Whelchel at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

 

Snowbird: Between places – Mel Livatino at Front Porch Republic.

 

The Fruit of the Spirit: Self Control – Robb Brunansky at The Cripplegate.

A grief, fearful

After Samuel 16:1-13

The prophet grieved,

yes, the loss of a king’s

anointing; the words

of God were sufficient.

Yet the king was still

a king, one who would

not accept rejection or

disloyalty, especially

by the prophet who 

had poured the oil

in the first place. 

The prophet knew 

this, and he was

afraid. So he was

given an excuse,

a cover, for protection:

take a cow with you

and say it’s for 

a sacrifice to me.

Go.

 

Photograph by Elyas Pasban via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Sarah Who Loved a Man—Katie Andraskie at Katie’s Ground.

 

A Question for All the Teens Who Saw Charlie Kirk Die – Tim Challies.

 

Charlie Kirk and the fifth great awakening – Freddy Gray at The Spectator.

 

Why parables, Jesus? – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

“Rejoice, the Lord is King,” hymn by Charles Wesley – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

My tongue must tell of a better king – Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street.

A grief, observed

After I Samuel 16:1-13 

The chose one has

lost his authority.

The prophet sees

the sin, understands

the reason, but

grieves the loss,

the king who

appears a king,

who bears a king’s

image, the man

anointed by

the prophet

himself. And he

grieves. Then

the questions

come. How long,

man, will you

grieve? How long,

man, do you

grieve for man

I’ve rejected?

Fill your horn

with oil; a new

king is chosen.

 

Photograph by Alexander Grey via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Psalm 51 – poem by Megan Willome.

 

Bitcoin and Stewardship – Tim Fox at By Faith.

 

What I Saw at School That Made Me Flinch – Becky Ramsey.

 

A Sonnet for St. Matthew’s Day – Malcolm Guite.

Lament for a persecutor

After 2 Samuel 1:17-27 

The wind breathes,

and the flower’s petals

fall and turn brown,

withering into dust.

The mighty one

the king who persecuted

and sought the death

of the anointed one,

the king lies fallen

on the field,

the battle over,

his final battle fought.

The king lies fallen,

dead, uncelebrated,

and so the anointed one

sounds his lament,

his song of sadness

and grief for the fallen

shield, the king lying

dead. He celebrates

his life, he mourns

his death, paying him

the honor he was due.

 

Photograph by Margaret Polinder via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Homebound – poem by Jeffrey Essmann at Society of Classical Poets.

 

A Song of Joy in a Moment of Sadness: A Friend of C.S. Lewis Goes Home – Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Change – poem by Jody Collins at Poetry & Made Things. 

 

Our godless era is dead – Paul Kingsnorth at UnHerd. 

Had he done it then

After I Samuel 24:1-12 

Had he done it then,

they would have known,

they would have grasped,

they would have accepted

and recognized and

applauded and even

cheered, celebrating

the death of a crazed

king who somehow

justified evil as good.

He could have done it then,

and the world would have

rejoiced. But he refrained;

his purpose was not

to please the world but

to please something else,

someone else.

 

Photograph by Chandan Chaurasia via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Part of a Christian’s Job is to Point Out That Modern Life Stinks – Samuel James at Digital Liberties.

 

Return to Chesterton – Maisie Ward at The Imaginative Conservative.

The First Sunday of Epiphany: Jesus' Baptism -- poem by Malcolm Guite.

Cutting corners

After I Samuel 24:1-12 

He could have had

it all, the kingdom,

the power, the glory,

respect, admiration.

He could have ended

the threat to his life,

the threat ongoing,

right there and

at that moment.

He could have made

a simple thrust, 

a surprise, and

they all knew

the king would do

that in his place.

Instead, he cut

a corner, a corner

of the robe, a cut

that said he could

have killed a king,

but refrained, that

said that, in God’s

time the piece,

the corner becomes

the whole.

 

Photograph by Erol Ahmed via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

A not so exhaustive list of male Christian fiction authors – Mark at Thoughts of a Sojourner.

 

Can you share a lesson from American church history? – Stephen Nichols at Ligonier Ministries.

 

“Mother of God,” poem by William Butler Yeats, and “Magnificat,” poem by Megan Willome – at Poetry for Life.

 

Attentive Parenting in the AI Age – Scott Hurst at Mere Orthodoxy.

He might have

After I Samuel 24:1-12 

He might have ended

the push me – pull you

condition, the constant

fear, the constant

hardship of his life

on the run. The love-hate

hate-love relationship

could have stopped,

could have been

stopped, right there

at that moment, 

the threat removed, 

the fear expelled,

the hardship ended.

He might have done

all that in the darkness

of the cave. Instead, he 

held himself and his men

in check, and acted

in another way, the way

he should have, the way

he knew his God would

honor.

 

Photograph by Mario Álvarez via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Six Reasons for the Virgin Birth – Mitch Chase at Biblical Theology.

 

Christmas and the Common Birth by Anne Ridler – Malcolm Guite.

 

Ghosts of Christmas: What the Damned Might Say – Greg Morse at Desiring God.

 

Shepherd Feet – Susan Lafferty.

 

My Winter Walks in the City – Spitalfields Life.

The cave

After I Samuel 24:1-12  

In this mouth

of darkness plays

out a drama,

a story of fear,

of opportunity

prevented,

of opportunity

refused. There

in the cave,

the king would

have died. There

in the cave,

a king could

have risen. But

the opportunity

was refused,

confounding human

understanding. But

the man who refused

it knew it was not

his opportunity

to seize.

 

Photograph by Bradley Dunn via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Let the Stable Still Astonish – Leslie Leyland Fields at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

Just a Stay-at-Home Mom – Lara d’Entremont. 

 

Christmas Should Humble Us – Seth Lewis.

 

More Light, Lord – poem by Esther at From the Wildwood.

 

The Word became flesh – poem by Jody Lee Collins.

Jealousy

After I Samuel 18:6-9 

The king hears the songs,

the promises sung

to celebrate victory,

and he hears the words

tilt toward the hero,

not the king. The people

saw the victory, 

the people paid tribute

to the hero of the victory,

the one who swept beyond 

the fear and won a challenge,

a triumph with a slingshot

and stone. The favor

of the Lord had come 

to rest upon the head

 of the slinger of stones.

And the king heard,

and the king watched,

and the king waited.

 

Photograph by Marco Lastella via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Advent in Oklahoma – Benjamin Myers at Front Porch Republic.

 

Gleichschtung – David Warren at Essays in Idleness.

 

While you are waiting: a sermon on a reading from 2 Peter 3 – Dan King at Bibledude. 

A devout man trembles

After Acts 9:9-19

He is a devout man,

known for being so,

known for following 

the law, known to those

of the old faith and

of the new, respected.

He hears his name 

called, in a vision, 

and his response is 

what one expects from 

a devout man: here

I am, Lord. He is told

of the man blinded,

sitting in a house

in a street called Straight,

waiting. He knows a man

named Ananias will come,

a man named Ananias

will lay hands on him,

restoring his sight.

This man, this devout man,

knows without being told who

this blind man is, knowing 

what he’s been sent to do.

This devout man is told to go

to the blinded man, the man

who will have a mission

of carrying the name

to the world, a mission

of great suffering.

This man, this devout man,

obeys and goes to lay 

his hands on the blind man.

And he calls the man

his brother.

Photograph by Elia Pellagrini via Unsplash. Used with permission.