Romans 9:1-29; 1 Samuel 17:55-58; 1 Samuel 18; Psalms 63

Romans 9:1-29

1 I speak the truth in Christ-I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit-

2 that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart.

3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my countrymen by physical descent.

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises.

5 The forefathers are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

7 Neither are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants. On the contrary, in Isaac your seed will be called.

8 That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but the children of the promise are considered seed.

9 For this is the statement of the promise: At this time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.

10 And not only that, but also when Rebekah became pregnant by Isaac our forefather

11 (for though they had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to election might stand,

12 not from works but from the One who calls) she was told: The older will serve the younger.

13 As it is written: Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.

14 What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!

15 For He tells Moses: I will show mercy to whom I show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

16 So then it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.

17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh: For this reason I raised you up: so that I may display My power in you, and that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

18 So then, He shows mercy to whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.

19 You will say to me, therefore, "Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?"

20 But who are you-anyone who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"

21 Or has the potter no right over His clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor?

22 And what if God, desiring to display His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath ready for destruction?

23 And [what if] He did this to make known the riches of His glory on objects of mercy that He prepared beforehand for glory-

24 on us whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

25 As He also says in Hosea: I will call "Not-My-People," "My-People," and she who is "Unloved," "Beloved."

26 And it will be in the place where they were told, you are not My people, there they will be called sons of the living God.

27 But Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: Though the number of Israel's sons is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved;

28 for the Lord will execute His sentence completely and decisively on the earth.

29 And just as Isaiah predicted: If the Lord of Hosts had not left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.

1 Samuel 17:55-58

55 When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, "Whose son is this youth, Abner?" "[My] king, as surely as you live, I don't know," Abner replied.

56 The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is!"

57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine's head still in his hand.

58 Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" "The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem," David answered.

1 Samuel 18

1 When David had finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan committed himself to David, and loved him as much as he loved himself.

2 Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him return to his father's house.

3 Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as much as himself.

4 Then Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his military tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

5 David marched out [with the army], and was successful in everything Saul sent him to do. Saul put him in command of the soldiers, which pleased all the people and Saul's servants as well.

6 As David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments.

7 As they celebrated, the women sang: Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.

8 Saul was furious and resented this song. "They credited tens of thousands to David," he complained, "but they only credited me with thousands. What more can he have but the kingdom?"

9 So Saul watched David jealously from that day forward.

10 The next day an evil spirit from God took control of Saul, and he began to rave inside the palace. David was playing [the harp] as usual, but Saul was holding a spear,

11 and he threw it, thinking, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David got away from him twice.

12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left from Saul.

13 Therefore, Saul reassigned David and made him commander over 1,000 men. David led the troops

14 and continued to be successful in all his activities because the Lord was with him.

15 When Saul observed that David was very successful, he dreaded him.

16 But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops.

17 Saul told David, "Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I'll give her to you as a wife, if you will be a warrior for me and fight the Lord's battles." But Saul was thinking, "My hand doesn't need to be against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him."

18 Then David responded, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel that I should become the king's son-in-law?"

19 When it was time to give Saul's daughter Merab to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as a wife.

20 Now Saul's daughter Michal loved David, and when it was reported to Saul, it pleased him.

21 "I'll give her to him," Saul thought. "She'll be a trap for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him." So Saul said to David a second time, "You can now be my son-in-law."

22 Saul then ordered his servants, "Speak to David in private and tell him, 'Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Therefore, you should become the king's son-in-law.' "

23 Saul's servants reported these words directly to David, but he replied, "Is it trivial in your sight to become the king's son-in-law? I am a poor man who is common."

24 The servants reported back to Saul, "These are the words David spoke."

25 Then Saul replied, "Say this to David: 'The king desires no other bride-price except 100 Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' " Actually, Saul intended to cause David's death at the hands of the Philistines.

26 When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,

27 David and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.

28 Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved him,

29 and he became even more afraid of David. As a result, Saul was David's enemy from then on.

30 Every time the Philistine commanders came out to fight, David was more successful than all of Saul's officers. So his name became very famous.

Psalms 63

1 God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.

2 So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory.

3 My lips will glorify You because Your faithful love is better than life.

4 So I will praise You as long as I live; at Your name, I will lift up my hands.

5 You satisfy me as with rich food; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.

6 When, on my bed, I think of You, I meditate on You during the night watches

7 because You are my help; I will rejoice in the shadow of Your wings.

8 I follow close to You; Your right hand holds on to me.

9 But those who seek to destroy my life will go into the depths of the earth.

10 They will be given over to the power of the sword; they will become the jackals' prey.

11 But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by Him will boast, for the mouths of liars will be shut.