Morning Grace

David asked, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”  Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “At your service!”  The king said, “Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” Ziba said to the king, “There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.”  The king said to him, “Where is he?” Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.”  Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.  Mephibosheth  son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth!”  He answered, “I am your servant.”  David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restor...

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, and fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground.  She fell at his feet and said, “Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant.  My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal  is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. “Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be like Nabal.  And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.  Please forgive the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fi...

Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David. Saul was told, and the thing pleased him.  Saul thought, “Let me give her to him that she may be a snare for him and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time,  “You shall now be my son-in-law.”  Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David in private and say, ‘See, the king is delighted with you, and all his servants love you; now then, become the king’s son-in-law.’”  So Saul’s servants reported these words to David in private. And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man and of no repute?”  The servants of Saul told him, “This is what David said.”  Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no marriage present except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged on the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines....

When David  had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.  Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.  Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.  Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing, and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.  David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved. ~ I Samuel 18:1-5 Things go from bad to worse for Saul. Unbeknownst to him, David is the new anointed king. And David is the one who killed the greatly feared Philistine. AND David is the only one who can soothe Saul's own tired nerves. But to make matters even worse, in Chapter 18, two of Saul's children fall head over heels for David - to mixed results as it ...

David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers.  As he talked with them, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him. All the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid.  The Israelites said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. The king will greatly enrich the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter and make his family free in Israel.”  David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  The people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done for the man who kills him.” His eldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the ...

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord .”   But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”  Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”  Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”  Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”  He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful...

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”  Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.”  Samuel did what the  Lord  commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”  He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now ...

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth.  He had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Now the day before Saul came, the  Lord  had revealed to Samuel:  “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of  my people, because their outcry has come to me.”  When Samuel saw Saul, the  Lord  told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people.”  Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate, and said, “Tell me, please, where is the house of the seer?”  Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer; go up before me to ...