Grains of Sand

Horeasabau's Blog Google Images David’s efforts to avoid Saul took him to some unlikely places. By the time we come to the end of 1 Samuel, David is living among the Philistines. Hardly a comfortable spot to be in considering that he had been responsible for their defeat against Israel when he killed Goliath. The relations between the Israelites and the Philistines had never been cordial and many among the Philistine leaders would have been happy to put David’s head on the end of a pole and display it from the walls of Gath. However, this was where the Lord sent David and it was here that God protected David from Saul’s plots to kill him. When we get to 1 Samuel 29 we find David faced with a case of conflicted loyalties. Achish and the Philistines are preparing to go into battle against the Israelites. David, as a subject of Achish, would be expected to support the Philistine king in this effort. But some of Achish’s key men were not happy about the prospects, feeling that Da...

Google Images Very little is said about Joseph, the earthy father of Jesus, in the Scriptures. In fact, very little is said about Mary either. But here in Matthew 1 we discover a little about the character of the man whose God-given responsibility was caring for the child, Jesus. Mary was “ pledged ” to Joseph (Matthew 1:18) which was as good as being married. So when it was discovered that she was pregnant, and not with Joseph’s child, the man had options to consider. The law said that Mary could be publicly stoned to death for her betrayal of the man to whom she was promised. Many men, to defend their honour (or satisfy their jealous and/or vindictive nature), would have been happy to throw the first stone. But not Joseph. “ Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public shame, he had in mind to divorce her quietly ” (1:19). A legalistic man would have had Mary stoned. A righteous man viewed her with compassion and wished to do her as litt...