Daily Manna 5 October
KEY VERSE: “And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.” – (1 Samuel 20:33)
TEXT: 1 Samuel 20:24-34
4 Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast. 25 Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And [a]Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 27 And it happened the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”
28 So Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 And he said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. And now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me get away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”
30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he [b]shall surely die.”
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, “Why should he be killed? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul cast a spear at him to [c]kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David.
34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
David the shepherd boy learned the hard way that death lurks everywhere and not only on the battlefield. He had engaged in mortal combat with deadly animals like the lion and the bear and cheated death. He had also encountered dreaded giants like Goliath, the Philistine champion and overcame him.
The Lord took care of David’s ignorance and inexperience as He always does for His people who are endangered. He made David outwit Saul the king who sought to slay him. Saul wanted to take advantage of a feast in the palace to execute his plan to kill David. But this anointed servant of God stayed away under a plot hatched by him and Jonathan, his faithful friend and Saul’s son. When Jonathan would not yield to his father’s argument that David’s existence was a threat to his ascendancy to the throne, he transferred his anger to his son. The Lord rewarded Jonathan’s loyalty to His servant by delivering him from his father’s death-bearing anger.
God warns against anger because of its potential to bring forth rash emotions that can lead to regrettable actions. In the pouch of anger are passions that engender bloody decisions with dangerous consequences. The Bible counsels: “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath” (Psalm 37:8). Mad fury unchains the animal nature in the unregenerate man and pushes him to the edge overlooking an abyss.
But Calvary-cleansed believers must be guided by the word of God. Even in the most provocative circumstances, we must not give in to fits of anger. Where we are faced with murderous rage from the people of the world, we can trust the Lord to fight for us as He did for Jonathan and David.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Sinful anger is one short step to murder.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 89-91
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Fatal Anger – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 5 October 2021
