ESOCS Devotional 7 July 2023
MEMORY VERSE: “And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.” 1 Samuel 16:15 KJV
TEXT: 1 SAMUEL 16:14-23 (KJV)
14 But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lordtroubled him.
15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.
18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.
19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.
20 And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.
21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.
22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.
23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Who you move with determines who moves with you, what you can move and your immovability in life’s existence. Having the right people to move with per time is one of the best gifts anyone can ask for. Nothing blesses a man like having his/her life encompassed and surrounded with the right people. No matter the circumstances you go through in life, with the circle of right people around you, certainly you will come out strong and victorious.
King Saul being tormented with an evil spirit for his disobedience to God was confronted with the most agonizing moment of his life. Fortunately, he was blessed with good men around him. They were not just servants but exceptional in their service to the king.
Let us look at the characteristics of these servants.
- High Spiritual Sensitivity: Instead of engaging themselves in laughter and mockery towards the king, they were spiritually sensitive enough to understand the situation. They were not naïve to misplace spirituality with carnality. They did not treat important matters with triviality. Many times, when we surround our life with carnal and fleshy people, they successfully assist us to move away from the spiritual impact of what we encounter per time.
- Wise Counsel: “Let our Lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp…” (1 Sam. 16:16). There are critical junctions you get to in life that only a wise counsel can guarantee your escape route. So many persons could not survive certain challenges in life because those around them were bankrupt of wisdom, for “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise…” (Prov. 13:20).One of the greatest undoing of a man is to move in the company of fools.
- Result Minded: “Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite …” (1 Sam. 16:18). It is one thing to have problem but another thing to access the perfect solution. The servants around the life of the king were solution providers. Their presence in his life lightened the heavy burden for him. It will be suicidal to have your companions filled with problem promoters. Look for solution providers and keep them in your life.
- Empty your life of every wrong person, no matter how attached you may be.
- Consciously and by divine leading encompass your life with the right people.
- Allow your companions to be a blessing to you. Make them express the grace and gifts they carry.
- Father, thank you for sending the right people to me. Lord, locate every wrong person around me and remove them from my life, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
FURTHER READING: Hosea 14:1-end; Luke 3:1-14; Mark 15:40; 16:1-7
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ESOCS Devotional 7 July 2023
