5. Fri 87 - 1 Samuel 20 · Acts 14 · Psalm 56,57,142 - FeedTheGoodHorse
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Day 87: 1 Samuel 20 · Acts 14 · Psalm 56,57,142 · 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.
1 Samuel 20
David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?”
He said to him, “Far from it! You will not die. Look, my father does nothing either great or small without revealing it to me. Why then would my father hide this thing from me? It is not so.”
David again swore and said, “Your father surely knows that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Let Jonathan not know this, or he will be grieved.’ But truly, as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”
Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you say, I will do for you.”
David said to Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, so that I may hide myself in the field until the third day at evening.
If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, because it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’
If he says, ‘Good,’ then it will be well for your servant. But if he is angry, then know that harm has been determined by him.
Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself. Why should you bring me to your father?”
Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that harm was determined by my father to come upon you, would I not tell you?”
Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So both of them went out into the field.
Jonathan said to David, “The Lord, the God of Israel, be witness: when I have sounded out my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, and look, if he is favorable toward David, will I not then send and disclose it to you?
But if it pleases my father to do you harm, may the Lord do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.
If I am still alive, show me the kindness of the Lord, that I may not die;
and do not cut off your kindness from my house forever, even when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the ground.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”
Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own life.
Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
On the third day go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself on the day of the deed, and remain beside the stone Ezel.
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.
Then look, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; take them,’ then come, for there is peace for you and no harm, as the Lord lives.
But if I say this to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go your way, for the Lord has sent you away.
As for the matter of which you and I have spoken, look, the Lord is between you and me forever.”
So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food.
The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan stood, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.
Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is not clean; surely he is not clean.”
But on the second day, the day after the new moon, David’s place was empty again. Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.
He said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. 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.”
Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “Son of a perverse and 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?
For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingship will be established. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he must surely die.”
Jonathan answered Saul his father and said to him, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?”
But Saul hurled the spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to put David to death.
Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the new moon, for he was grieved for David, because his father had dishonored him.
In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and a young boy was with him.
He said to his boy, “Run, find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
When the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?”
Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay.” Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master.
But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, carry them to the city.”
As soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the south side and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. They kissed one another and wept with one another, until David wept more.
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring forever.’”
Then he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
Acts 14
In Iconium they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a large number of both Jews and Greek-speaking people believed. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up and poisoned the minds of the nations against the siblings.
So they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in reliance on the Lord, who was testifying to the message of his grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through their hands. But the population of the city was divided: some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.
When an attempt was made by both nations and Jews, along with their leaders, to mistreat them and to stone them, they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia—Lystra and Derbe—and to the surrounding region, and there they kept proclaiming the good news.
In Lystra there was a man sitting who was unable to use his feet. He had been unable to walk from birth and had never walked. This man listened as Paul was speaking. Looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed, Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” They called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice along with the crowds.
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, “People, why are you doing these things? We are also humans with the same nature as you, proclaiming good news to you so that you may turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness, doing good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
Even by saying these things, they barely restrained the crowds from sacrificing to them.
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after persuading the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe.
After proclaiming the good news in that city and making many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to remain in the faith, and saying that through many hardships we must enter the kingdom of God.
After appointing elders for them in each assembly, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. After speaking the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work that they had now completed.
When they arrived and gathered the assembly together, they reported everything God had done with them and how he had opened a door of faith to the nations. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Psalm 56
Be gracious to me, God, for people trample me;
all day long they press their attack against me.
My attackers trample me all day long,
for many fight against me arrogantly.
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust—I will not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
All day long they twist my words;
all their thoughts are against me for harm.
They gather together, they hide themselves;
they watch my steps
as they wait to take my life.
Because of wrongdoing, will they escape?
In anger, bring down the peoples, God.
You have kept count of my wanderings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not written in your record?
Then my enemies will turn back
on the day when I call.
This I know: God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust—I will not be afraid.
What can a human do to me?
My vows to you are binding upon me, God;
I will give thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my life from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Psalm 57
Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,
for in you my life takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge
until destruction passes by.
I call out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will rebuke the one who tramples me.
God will send his steadfast love and his faithfulness.
My life is in the midst of lions;
I lie down among those who devour—
human teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongues are sharp swords.
Be exalted above the heavens, God;
let your glory be over all the earth.
They set a net for my steps;
my life was bowed down.
They dug a pit before me;
they themselves have fallen into it.
My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will give thanks to you among the peoples, Lord;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
Be exalted above the heavens, God;
let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 142
With my voice I cry out to the Lord;
with my voice I plead for mercy from the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit grows faint within me,
you know my path.
On the way where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to my right and see:
there is no one who acknowledges me;
no refuge remains for me;
no one cares for my life.
I cry out to you, Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
Listen to my cry,
for I am brought very low;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are stronger than I.
Bring my life out of prison,
so that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because you deal generously with me.
Commentary - Day 87
1 Samuel 20 · Acts 14 · Psalm 56, 57, 142
Summary:
In 1 Samuel 20, David and Jonathan test Saul’s intent at the new moon table; when anger breaks open and a spear is hurled, arrows in the field confirm that separation must follow. Covenant loyalty remains even as royal hostility hardens.
In Acts 14, in Iconium many believe while others stir up resistance; in Lystra a man stands and walks, the crowd attempts sacrifice, and soon the same city stones Paul and drags him out. Yet he rises, returns through the towns, and strengthens assemblies, appointing elders and naming hardship as part of the way.
In Psalm 56, watched steps and twisted words meet declared trust; in Psalm 57, refuge is sought beneath wings amid nets and pits; in Psalm 142, complaint rises where no refuge appears. Across these chapters, loyalty, witness, and prayer persist within instability rather than apart from it.
In 1 Samuel 20, covenant is pressed under the weight of danger. David names the narrow distance between himself and death, while Jonathan refuses to accept that his father’s intent has hardened beyond reversal. The new moon meal becomes a testing ground: an empty seat, a question deferred, then anger that no longer conceals itself. Saul’s accusation shifts from David to Jonathan, and the spear hurled across the table makes visible what words had only suggested. In the field beside the stone Ezel, arrows carry the verdict without direct speech. What is spoken between David and Jonathan—kindness not cut off, the Lord standing witness between houses—remains even as physical presence must end. The farewell seals both loyalty and separation, binding the future of David’s house to a covenant sworn in the midst of pursuit.
In Acts 14, proclamation unfolds in cycles of reception and resistance. In Iconium, belief multiplies even as minds are poisoned against the messengers. The division of the city does not halt speech; boldness and opposition grow together. In Lystra, the healing of a man lame from birth alters the crowd’s perception in an instant. Barnabas and Paul are named as gods; sacrifice is prepared; garments are torn to refuse misdirected worship. The movement from acclaim to violence is swift. Jews arrive, persuasion turns the crowd, and Paul is stoned and dragged outside the city. Yet the chapter does not end in retreat. Paul rises, reenters, and the return journey strengthens disciples and appoints elders. Hardship is named as part of the path, and the report back in Antioch speaks of a door opened among the nations even as rejection remains present.
In Psalm 56, fear is articulated without concealment—words twisted, steps watched, tears counted—yet trust is declared in the same breath. In Psalm 57, refuge is sought beneath overshadowing wings while nets are spread and pits dug along the path. The refrain of exaltation interrupts the imagery of threat, lifting voice even as danger lingers. In Psalm 142, isolation sharpens: no refuge visible, no one acknowledging the pursued. Complaint becomes petition, and prison imagery gives way to anticipated thanksgiving without erasing the pressure that prompted it.
Across 1 Samuel 20, Acts 14, and Psalms 56, 57, and 142, loyalty, proclamation, and prayer move through hostility rather than apart from it. Covenant persists while separation begins; healing leads to both worship and violence; complaint rises toward refuge without dissolving pursuit. The chapters do not resolve threat into calm but hold steadfastness and danger within the same unfolding, leaving endurance visible in the midst of instability.
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