Presby-Musings

Some of our band of Holy Land pilgrims will be leaving us today, but others of us will be journeying a bit longer, and one of the places we'll be visiting today is En Gedi National Park.   En Gedi is a beautiful and historic park with a great hike that leads you to the spring-fed David's Waterfall.  The waterfall is so named because of this story from 1 Samuel chapter 24 where a disturbed King Saul is chasing David into the wilderness near the Dead Sea.   24 After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” 2 So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats. Can I tell you that the descendants of the wild goats that are mentioned here are still  roaming around En Gedi.  You can see them all over the place when you visit.  Let's continue the story, though:   3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave ...

This week I am continuing the sermon series on David that we've entitled "Unlikely Hero."  Not all of the stories in this particular sermon series are what you might call "premier" or "big ticket" stories.  I rather like that about it, to be honest.  In fact, there is more to learn from some of the obscure Biblical stories that often get overlooked than you might think. Take, for example, the story of David and Mephibosheth from 2 Samuel 9.  This short interlude in the grand epic of David's life, is also one of his most beautiful and touching moments.  Before you read it, let me ask you to do something that may help you reflect on the passage in a moment. Remember, if you can, a time when someone showed mercy to you. What did it feel like to receive it? I was shown mercy by a professor of English Literature at Florida State University .  I was taking a class on British Literature, which was easily one of my favorite subjects.  When we to...

This week I am continuing the sermon series on the life of David, entitled, "Unlikely Hero."  The passage of scripture we'll be exploring contains an interesting story that teaches us what it means to truly forgive those who have wronged us.  This is a story of how David was being pursued by Saul who wanted to kill him and how David spared Saul's life... Let me begin by asking you a couple of questions... you don't have to answer them right away---at least out loud. "What's the worst thing that has ever been done to you by another human being?"  I know it's not the easiest thing in the world to think about that kind of stuff---especially on a Sunday morning when you're supposed to be feeling all warm and fuzzy in church.  But try to think about it anyway. Then ponder this question... "Did you ever really forgive them?" No... I mean really  forgive them. Read 1 Samuel 24.   It's too long to cut and paste into this ...

This week I am continuing our sermon series on the life of David with the story of David and Jonathan ---perhaps one of the most dramatic and enduring stories of true friendship in the Bible. And it's a story that's made even more compelling by the fact that they were such unlikely friends. I looked up "unlikely friendships" on the interwebs and this is one of the first images that came up: I'm pretty sure this is breaking a whole bunch of rules.  You've got a pit bull, a cat and a bunch of ducklings all hanging out together. I think that it's sort of an understatement to describe these friendships as "unlikely." But it undoubtedly would be an overstatement to call the friendship of a pit bull, cat and baby ducks as "enduring."  Something tells me that if  either the dog or the cat missed a couple of meals, this photo wouldn't be so darned cute.  But that's just me. Who is your "best friend?"  And what make...

If you had to list the top five most well known stories in all of the Bible , the story we're studying this week would be one of them. All you need is two words---two names, in fact---and all of your memories of when and where you first remembered hearing this story just might come rushing back to you:   David & Goliath . It happened just then, didn't it?  You had this rush of familiarity when you read it.  Even if you didn't really attend church all that much when you were a kid, the story of David and Goliath is one of those stories from the Bible that just sort of transcends church. I don't remember the first time I heard the story, but I remember where I heard it: the Fairfield Road Baptist Church in Greenville, SC ---in a tiny classroom that was in the basement.  My Aunt Sylvia was my Sunday school teacher, God rest her. The thing about these very familiar stories is that we think we know everything about them.  In fact, pastors often avoid ...

This week I am concluding the sermon series that we've been working on for the past several weeks: Samuel - A Study in Character.  Although we've been focusing on stories from Samuel's life, we've quickly discovered that his life is closely intertwined with the lives of both Saul and David ---the first and second kings of Israel .  Saul was the first choice, so to speak---but he was chosen as a result of the demands of the Hebrew people to be like all the other nations.   David was God 's choice---chosen from the margins, an unlikely young man from an unremarkable family. Let's begin by diving right into the text from 1 Samuel 16:1-13: 1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” The Lord ...

This week I am continuing to preach through the book of 1 Samuel, focusing on the life of the book's namesake:  The prophet Samuel , himself.  Strangely, so much of the life of Samuel is intertwined with two of the other great characters in the story: David and Saul.  But as we discovered last week, the real main characters in these ancient narratives are a bit more elusive. Let's start by diving right into the text for a change--1 Samuel 13:1-14: 1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. 2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes. 3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” 4 So all Israel heard the news: ...