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Weekly Guide：2024-2025 Week 25
June 23, 2024
Week 25 Day 1: Saul the Anointed ⇧ ⇩
Question
What “steps” did Saul go through being anointed?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
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Samuel followed God’s will to anoint Saul and gave him three signs.
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Samuel casted lots to elect Saul, but some despised him.
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Saul defeated the Ammonites, delivered Jabesh-gilead, to prove himself and finally being accepted by people as king.
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Samuel addressed the people one last time to obey God’s will even as they have done all that evil, must turn to the Lord and serve the Lord with all their heart, and the Lord will not forsake them. As for Samuel, he himself will continue to pray for them and instruct them in the good and the right way.
Meditation: My Story
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Walking with God - God elected and anointed Saul before the people. It was God’s will for Saul even though the people acted wickedly. What can I learn from Saul’s anointment about those who have authorities (even if they are wicked) in the world?
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Walking with God - Saul was transformed because of the spirit of the Lord. Think about the three signs and Saul’s transformation. What have I learned about God’s work?
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Integrity - What characters did Samuel display from his farewell address. Let me list out these characters. What can I see from the way he served the Lord and God’s people? What did he see about himself?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 2: Saul the Sinned ⇧ ⇩
Question
In what aspects did Saul disobey God’s will?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
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Saul made offering by himself in Gilgal for he couldn’t wait for Samuel nor the Lord. Samuel told Saul because he did not keep the Lord’s command, that his kingdom shall not continue, and the Lord had sought out another man after His own heart to be king.
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Saul laid an oath on his people to continue fighting without any food and caused all people to break the vow. After the people had broken the vow, Saul did not repent but tried to cover it up. When God did not answer his inquiry, Saul casted lots to find the offender but was ransomed by the people.
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God used Jonathan to save the Israelites with a small number of them from the hands of stronger Philistines. Jonathan cared about the people’s wellbeing. When he was picked out by lots, the people ransomed him because they could see that he was with God in saving them.
Meditation: My Story
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Walking with God - Saul seemed to try to turn back to God. He brought alone Eli’s son as high priest as well as the ark of the Covenant. Then he laid an oath on his people to not eat until he had avenged on his enemies which caused the people to break the vow and offended the Lord. Saul then built an altar, listened to the priest to inquire of the Lord on the next step. Saul again offended the Lord when he could not wait for the Lord’s answer but to find and punish the offender. What was his motivation? What was his attitude toward God? What have I learned from all this? Have I done similar things like Saul in my daily life?
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Integrity - Started with things that seemed small and negligible, Saul began to stray away from God. He had no patience to wait for God, used God as a tool to accomplish his own will, pushing aside of the responsibilities. Compare to Jonathan’s reliance of God and the witness from the people, what have I learned to apply to my daily live? What was the root cause of Saul’s wrong choices, straying away from God, and being rejected by God?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 3: Saul the Rejected ⇧ ⇩
Question
What is pleasing to God?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
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Through Samuel, God commanded Saul to strike and destroy all the Amalekites. But Saul did not follow through and spared the Amalekite king as well as all the best sheep, oxen, fattened calves and lambs, and all things that were good.
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God regret (was sorry - NLV) that He had made Saul king because Saul turned away from Him.
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Saul maintained that he followed God’s will when faced Samuel; When reproached by Samuel, Saul claimed it was the people’s idea to spare the best things for offering; Saul finally admitted of his sin that it was caused by his fear of people; Saul asked Samuel to stay to honor him in front of the people when he learned that God’s will would not change.
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Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
Meditation: My Story
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Walking with God - No matter what excuses Saul had, Samuel told him that God’s command was not followed on striking the Amalekites. What does God want from us in following His commands? God wants us to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. We cannot serve both God and money or idols just like He wanted Saul to “destroy” them all. Am I making the same mistake as Saul did?
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Identity - He wasn’t lying when Saul said: “I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” Do I also fear people of the world, both willingly and unwillingly, more than fear God and disobey God? What do I fear in things around me? God is greater than anyone and anything that we might fear.
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 4: David being Anointed ⇧ ⇩
Question
Why did the Lord elect David as king of Israel?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
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God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king.
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The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
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The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. Saul’s servant suggested to have David play lyre for Saul to refresh him to make him well.
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The Philistines and the Israelites went to war, David relied on God to defeat Goliath; The Israelites defeated the Philistines and plundered Philistine camp; David now entered the sights of Saul and the Israelites.
Meditation: My Story
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Identity - The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks in the heart. What is the heart that is pleasing to God according to the words Samuel said to Saul? (vs. 15:22-23) How Samuel’s words were reflected in what David said and acted when he defeated Goliath? How shall I make my heart pleasing to God?
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Integrity - What was David’s focus in his speech and action when defeating Goliath? What was he relying on? Did he know his mission? How may I defeat the tall and seemingly undefeatable giants in my life I’d inevitably meet?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 5: Jealousy over David ⇧ ⇩
Question
Why was Saul afraid and wanted to kill David?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
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The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and they became good friends. David was successful in battles that Saul set him over the men of war and he was good in the sight of all the people.
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The Israelites welcomed David’s return from victory, the women sang joyful songs “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” This brought out the jealousy in Saul.
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Saul was afraid of David as God was with David but departed from Saul. He tried to kill David secretly but never succeeded. David was loved by people even more, including Saul’s son Jonathan and daughter Michal.
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Jonathan advised Saul and he listened but soon changed. Michal help David to escape to Samuel. Saul sent people to go after David and later went but they were all stopped by the spirit of God.
Meditation: My Story
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Walking with God - David escaped Saul’s many attempts to kill him. What have I learned from this where God protected David and His own servants so that Saul would not succeed? When Saul could not see God’s work and saw only the worldly power, his spiritual eyes went blind. Am I busy going after the worldly things such as money and unable to see what God is doing? Let me pray to the Lord to help me to put my eyes on Him.
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Community - Compare Jonathan’s encouragement to Michal’s deceit for David. What were the differences even though both came out of love for David? What is the God pleasing relationship between Christians?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Week 25 Day 6: David in Exile ⇧ ⇮
Question
What is the real reason behind Saul’s fear for David?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
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David met Jonathan and through him reaffirmed Saul’s attempt to kill David.
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Jonathan and David made a covenant to bring their families together through their friendship.
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David began his life as an exile. For his own safety, David lied to the priest and cause the death of the entire town of priests. He pretended to be insane in front of the Philistines and got kicked out.
Meditation: My Story
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Integrity - The friendship between Jonathan and David faced great challenge. David accused Jonathan of knowing Saul’s will. How did Jonathan answer David’s accusation? Being a prince, how was Jonathan’s integrity reflected in his reaction to David? It can be seen that Jonathan knew God’s will from the covenant between him and David. What choice did Jonathan make?
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Integrity - David had little help and was surrounded by enemies in the early days of his exile. David was not without weakness. Why did David lie to the priest and pretend to be insane in front of the Philistines? Read Psalms 34 and 55 to get a taste of what David experienced when he was weak and how leaned on God.