Make-Up Monday - 1 Samuel 15:22

"And Samuel said,

'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams."

To obey is better than sacrifice. How many of us, when God tells us to do something that we don't like, seek to

do some work that is more "palatable" to us, under the false idea that God will overlook what we didn't do,

because we did something else that was "just as good" in our own eyes? Nothing can replace plain obedience to

God's word.

  In this chapter, King Saul is told by God to destroy the Amalekites completely, not even sparing the animals.

Yet Saul feared the people, and allowed them to spare some of the animals to use for sacrifices. God set up the

sacrificial system to point to Christ, and it was the appointed way of worshiping Him before Christ came, but

Saul used it, and the will of the people, as an excuse to disobey God's command.

  God rejected Saul as king because of this, because Saul rejected His word. Let us make no mistake, the Lord

is a jealous God, and He expects His people to give Him alone the praise He deserves, and to obey His voice.

All the more reason to fall on our faces and worship Him, because we do not do what we ought, and yet He

bears with us. Praise the Lord, for He is good!

(I have returned alive and well from a week of driver's-ed, thanks be to God, and am now an official person-

-who-knows-how-to-drive-but-can't-yet!)

Scripture-Less Sunday, and a Song

Well, I have no clever exegesis this afternoon, but I have a new song:



I am going to the first day of a weeklong drivers-ed class tomorrow, at Asheville Christian Academy-- So all
of you in the Asheville area may want to stay off the road for a while... ;D  Anyway, I would greatly appreciate
prayer as I'm going through this transition in my life.
  On a different note, go read Psalm 103, and really meditate on it. Pray over it. It does a body (and spirit) good.

New Music

Here's a new song of mine that we recorded Sunday:



And a hymn by Ann Steele, with arrangement by Indelible Grace:



Soli Deo Gloria!

Scripture Sunday - Psalm 68:19

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up: God is our salvation. Selah"

This verse contains a "Selah", which indicates a pause in the psalm, to meditate on what was said. I intend to

do just that. The KJV renders this verse with the wonderful phrase, "who daily loadeth us with benefits", which

could be a sermon in itself, but I will stick with the ESV for now...

  "Blessed be the Lord," Let us give Him honor and praise, fame and glory. Let His name be held in reverence,

and magnified by all people!

  "Who daily bears us up;" Because He daily, without fail, gives us mercy upon mercy, forgiving our sins and

failings, and keeps us from calamity, guiding our very steps by His Word and Spirit.

  "God is our salvation." In Him only have we our life and breath, and He is our strong foundation that can

never be shaken!

I will end with a familiar hymn...

"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son & Holy Ghost!

Amen!

Scripture-Less Sunday

I would love to have some clever, pre-written, edifying post up here, but alas, my brain is pure mush. So don't,
I ask, judge me too harshly when I turn out nothing but a new website on my sidebar! (If you must know, I
completely wore myself out bike riding after supper, collapsed on my bed, and so have been in a foggy daze ever since.) As for the site, it happens to be The Daily Spurgeon. I have seen it before, but never thought
to put it on my list. It's a collection of excerpts from Spurgeon's sermons, in a daily devotional format. Well,
until next time, here's praying for Grace, Peace, and the Faith to serve our King!