Tues 84 - 1 Samuel 15–16 · Acts 11 · Psalm 39 - FeedTheGoodHorse
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Day 84: 1 Samuel 15–16 · Acts 11 · Psalm 39 · Commentary · Commentary²
The Bible text is included for reading continuity; it is accurate in substance, aligned with major modern translations, and may be read alongside any Bible you prefer.1
Special Note about the following Bible text: The following translation uses the Hebrew terms tamé (טָמֵא) and tahor (טָהוֹר) instead of the traditional “unclean” and “clean.” These terms describe ritual status in relation to sanctuary access, not moral fault, shame, or physical dirtiness. A fuller explanation will follow in a dedicated article.
84: 1 Samuel 15–16 · Acts 11 · Psalm 39 in the NLT translation of the Bible
1 Samuel 15
Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to the voice of the Lord.
This is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel, how he opposed them on the way when they came up from Egypt.
Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that belongs to him. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
So Saul summoned the people and counted them at Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah.
Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.
Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, leave, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites left from among the Amalekites.
Saul struck the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.
He captured Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.
But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle and the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to devote them to destruction. But everything that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
The word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
“I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commands.” Samuel was distressed, and he cried out to the Lord all night.
Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. It was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and look, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.”
Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you to the Lord; I have carried out the command of the Lord.”
Samuel said, “What then is this sound of sheep in my ears and the sound of cattle that I hear?”
Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, because the people spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we have devoted to destruction.”
Samuel said to Saul, “Stop, and I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” He said to him, “Speak.”
Samuel said, “Though you are small in your own eyes, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.
The Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
Why then did you not listen to the voice of the Lord? Why did you rush upon the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
Saul said to Samuel, “I have listened to the voice of the Lord and have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
But the people took from the spoil sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
Samuel said, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in listening to the voice of the Lord?
Look, listening is better than sacrifice, and paying attention than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and stubbornness is like wrongdoing and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you from being king.”
Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.
Now please forgive my sin and return with me, so that I may bow down before the Lord.”
Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
Also the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not a human, that he should change his mind.”
Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, so that I may bow down before the Lord your God.”
So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed down before the Lord.
Then Samuel said, “Bring to me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him confidently. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has passed.”
Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel killed Agag before the Lord at Gilgal.
Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul.
Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned for Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
1 Samuel 16
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; 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.”
The Lord said, “Take a young 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 said and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come peacefully?”
He said, “Peacefully. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he saw Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his height, because I have rejected him. For the Lord does not see as humans see: humans look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”
Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. He said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”
Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?”
He said, “There remains yet the youngest, but look, he is tending the sheep.”
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 eyes and a good appearance.
The Lord said, “Rise, anoint him, for this is the one.”
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. The spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel rose and went to Ramah.
Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a troubling spirit from the Lord terrified him.
Saul’s servants said to him, “Look now, a troubling spirit from God is terrifying you.
Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who knows how to play the lyre, and when the troubling spirit from God comes upon you, he will play it with his hand, and you will be well.”
Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
One of the young men answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who knows how to play, and is a strong man, a warrior, careful in speech, and handsome, and the Lord is with him.”
Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by David his son to Saul.
David came to Saul and stood before him, and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain before me, for he has found favor in my eyes.”
Whenever the troubling spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take the lyre and play with his hand. Then Saul would be relieved and become well, and the troubling spirit would depart from him.
Acts 11
Now the apostles and the siblings who were throughout Judea heard that the nations also had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those from the circumcised group argued with him, saying, “You went in to men who are uncircumcised and ate with them.”
But Peter began and explained it to them in sequence, saying:
“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision—something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered by four corners from the sky, and it came close to me. Looking closely into it, I considered it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and wild animals and reptiles and birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord, because nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
But the voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call common.’
This happened three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven.
And look, immediately three men stood at the house where we were, having been sent to me from Caesarea. The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitation. These six siblings also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.
He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter, who will speak words to you by which you will be rescued—you and your whole household.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John immersed with water, but you will be immersed with the Holy Spirit.’
So if God gave them the same gift as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
When they heard these things, they became quiet and glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted to the nations also the change of mind that leads to life.”
Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that happened over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews alone. But there were some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking also to the Greek-speaking people, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.
The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. The report about them reached the ears of the assembly in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with steady purpose of heart, because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. A large crowd was added to the Lord.
Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met together with the assembly and taught a large crowd, and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
Now in those days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up and indicated through the Spirit that a great famine was about to come over the whole inhabited world, which took place during the time of Claudius.
So the disciples, each according to ability, decided to send relief to the siblings living in Judea. They did this, sending it to the elders through the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Psalm 39
I said,
“I will guard my ways
so that I do not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth with a restraint
while the wicked stand before me.”
I was silent and still;
I kept quiet even from speaking good,
and my pain was stirred up.
My heart grew hot within me;
while I was thinking, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
“Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am.
You have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is like nothing before you.
Surely every person stands as a breath.
Surely every person walks about like a shadow;
surely they bustle about in vain;
they heap up wealth
and do not know who will gather it.
And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
Rescue me from all my wrongdoings;
do not make me the scorn of the foolish.
I was silent;
I did not open my mouth,
because you have done it.
Remove your stroke from me;
I am consumed by the blow of your hand.
When you discipline a person with rebukes for wrongdoing,
you wear away what he treasures like a moth;
surely every person is a breath.
Hear my prayer, Lord,
and give attention to my cry;
do not be silent at my tears.
For I am a stranger with you,
a temporary resident, like all my ancestors.
Turn your gaze away from me,
so that I may recover strength
before I go away and am no more.”
(Psalm 39 in the NLT translation)
Commentary - Day 84
1 Samuel 15–16 · Acts 11 · Psalm 39
Summary:
In 1 Samuel 15, Saul carries out the command against Amalek, yet what is spared exposes what was altered; the sound of sheep interrupts his defense, and the tearing of Samuel’s robe marks a separation already underway. As the narrative moves into 1 Samuel 16, David is chosen quietly among Jesse’s sons, called from the pasture rather than selected by appearance, and his entry into Saul’s court begins through music rather than rank.
Acts 11 When Peter speaks again, the crossing into Cornelius’s household is retold step by step, and acceptance forms only after the events are rehearsed aloud. In Psalm 39, speech remains restrained until pressure breaks silence, measuring life as brief and unsettled, with no final resolution secured.
Within 1 Samuel 15, the command against Amalek leaves little room for adjustment. What remains alive speaks louder than what was struck down. Preserved animals, spared leadership, and a raised monument stand alongside Saul’s defense, while the sound of sheep interrupts every attempt at justification. The conflict turns not on whether action occurred, but on whether it remained inside the boundary first spoken. When Samuel’s robe tears in Saul’s grasp, the separation already declared becomes visible, even as Saul reaches for standing before the people rather than restoration of what was lost.
In 1 Samuel 16 the movement shifts as selection passes over strength that appears obvious. One son after another stands in view, yet none receives the oil until the youngest is called from the pasture, still among sheep and outside the ordered line. The anointing happens inside the household, without assembly or announcement. At the same time, disturbance begins to settle upon Saul, while steadiness gathers around David. Music becomes the point of entry into the king’s presence, not through lineage or title but through the calming of unrest. Authority begins to move before any throne changes hands, carried first through quiet placement rather than public transfer.
In Acts 11 when Peter speaks again, the crossing of boundaries must be told from the beginning, step by step. The vision returns in his retelling—the sheet lowered, the command repeated, resistance voiced. Those listening in Jerusalem question the entry into another household more than the message spoken there. The defense unfolds not as argument but as sequence: messengers arriving, entry granted, the Spirit falling in a place once held outside. Recognition forms as the events are rehearsed aloud, and resistance loosens into silence before acceptance finds words.
In Psalm 39 speech itself tightens, where restraint holds until silence can no longer contain what burns within. Life appears measured in brief spans, like shadows that lengthen and vanish without permanence. Gathering and striving move alongside the awareness that nothing held remains secure. The psalm ends without closure, asking for distance before departure, leaving the weight of brevity and longing suspended rather than settled.
Across this day’s reading movements, command, selection, and recognition do not stabilize into a single outcome. What is spoken may be altered in its carrying out. What is chosen may remain hidden before it becomes visible. What is resisted may be accepted only after it is retold. Speech may be withheld until pressure forces it into sound. Authority and transition continue to move through sound, action, and memory, leaving their tensions visible rather than resolved.
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