JUNE 24 – Friends, Foes, and Faith
3-Year-Bible Reading: Proverbs 18:17–19; 1 Samuel 26; Psalm 63
//3-Year Bible Devotional Book (Year Two) Available on Amazon
//
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“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” — Proverbs 18:17 (ESV)
“And Saul drew near to David, and David arose and came out of the cave and bowed down with his face to the ground, and paid homage. David said to Saul, ‘Why do you listen when men say, “David seeks your harm”?’” — 1 Samuel 26:21 (ESV)
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” — Psalm 63:1 (ESV)
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Ever had someone accuse you of something you didn’t do? Or watched a friend get treated unfairly because of rumors? Life can feel confusing and unfair, especially when others speak before the truth is known. Proverbs 18:17 reminds us that the first story we hear isn’t always the whole story. David’s story in 1 Samuel 26 shows how he responded with patience and integrity, even when Saul thought he meant harm. And Psalm 63 shows us where our focus should be—God. When we seek Him earnestly, our hearts find clarity, strength, and peace amidst lies, misunderstandings, and conflicts.
Your relationships, reputation, and even daily interactions are full of moments where patience, wisdom, and faith matter. Listening carefully, trusting God, and responding rightly can prevent unnecessary conflict and show His love to others. Even when people misunderstand you, God sees the truth, and He rewards hearts that seek Him above all.
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THINK ABOUT IT
1. Pause Before Reacting: How can you avoid jumping to conclusions when you hear a story or rumor (Proverbs 18:17)?
2. Respond with Integrity: How did David’s respectful and faithful response to Saul (1 Samuel 26) prevent further conflict, and how can you apply that in your own life?
3. Seek God First: In times of confusion or conflict, how can focusing on God (Psalm 63:1) help you stay calm, patient, and wise?
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BOTTOM LINE
When life feels unfair or confusing, seek God, act with integrity, and listen carefully before reacting.
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PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You for being my rock and the source of truth when the world seems confusing. Help me to respond with patience and integrity, not anger or rash decisions. Teach me to seek You first in every situation and trust that You see the full picture. Guard my heart from misunderstanding and give me wisdom to act rightly. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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Welcome to Bible Chat, where we
have devotional conversations
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rooted in Scripture and relevant
for today, June 24th.
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Friends, foes, and faith.
Have you ever heard one side of
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a story and been completely
convinced the other person was
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wrong, only to find out later
that there was a whole lot more
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to it than you originally heard?
It happens all the time, in
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friend groups, in families, in
classrooms.
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Online.
Someone tells their version and
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it sounds so convincing that we
run with it before we ever stop
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to ask.
Is there another side to this?
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Proverbs chapter 18 verse 17
nails this so precisely.
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The one who states his case
first seems right until the
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other comes and examines him.
The first story always sounds
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right.
It’s delivered with emotion,
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with detail, with context.
But it’s only one perspective.
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Wisdom waits.
Wisdom asks questions.
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Wisdom resists the pull toward
instant judgment.
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David lived this in First Samuel
chapter 26.
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Saul had been convinced by
others that David was his enemy,
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that David was plotting against
him, seeking his harm.
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And David had to live under the
weight of that false accusation
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for years, being haunted,
misunderstood, treated as a
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threat when he was actually
loyal.
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And when David finally had the
chance to confront Saul
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directly, he didn’t react with
bitterness or aggression.
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He responded with dignity and a
question that cut to the heart
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of it.
Why do you listen when men say
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David seeks your harm?
He invited Saul to examine the
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full picture rather than react
to a partial one.
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That’s integrity in the middle
of injustice.
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That’s the kind of response that
comes from a person who knows
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their God, sees the full truth
even when people only see
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fragments of it.
And that’s exactly where Psalm
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63 verse one anchors everything.
Oh God, you are my God.
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Earnestly, I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you, my
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flesh faints for you.
As in a dry and weary land where
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there is no water.
David wrote this from a literal
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wilderness, hiding, exhausted,
uncertain, and his first
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instinct wasn’t to strategize or
defend himself.
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It was to seek God, to thirst
after God the way a person in a
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desert thirsts for water.
That level of desperation for
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God’s presence changes
everything.
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It shifts your perspective, it
steadies your heart, and it
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gives you the clarity and
patience to respond wisely, even
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when life feels chaotic and
unfair.
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Here’s what I want you to take
away from today.
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When someone is being accused
unfairly.
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Maybe it’s you.
Maybe it’s a friend.
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Pause before reacting.
Seek the full picture before
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forming A verdict.
When you’re in a season of
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confusion or conflict, seek God
with that same urgent thirst
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before you.
Seek resolution through your own
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efforts.
And when people misunderstand
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you, when the rumors circulate,
when the accusations fly, you
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can trust that God sees the
whole story.
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He is not working with
incomplete information.
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He knows your heart.
He knows the truth, and He
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rewards those who stay faithful
and seek Him earnestly, even
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when others are looking at the
situation sideways.
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Your reputation in God’s eyes is
secure.
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Your peace comes from seeking
Him First.
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Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for
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being the God who sees the full
picture when everyone around us
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is only seeing parts.
Help us to pause before we react
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to rumors or accusations and to
seek the whole truth before we
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judge when we are misunderstood
or treated unfairly.
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Remind us that you see
everything and teach us to
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respond with the integrity and
patience that David showed.
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Give us hearts that thirst for
you above all else, in Jesus
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name, Amen.
What if the night was never
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meant to be ruled by fear, but
covered by the presence and
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authority of God?
Command Your Night is a
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prophetic prayer script series
created for believers who want
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to pray with confidence before
sleep, stand firm in spiritual
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warfare and invite divine
covering over every hour of
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darkness.
These prayers help you quiet
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anxiety, guard your home, resist
oppression, sanctify your
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dreams, cover your family, and
recognize sacred moments when
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God may be calling you to
intercede in the night watches.
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From peaceful sleep to midnight
breakthrough, this series gently
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strengthens your faith and
reminds you that no night season
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is beyond God’s power,
protection, and voice.
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Order now on Amazon or visit
prayerscripts.org.
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Now I invite you to spend time
with God in today’s three-year
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Bible reading plan.
Proverbs chapter 18, verses 17
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to 19 World English Bible.
He who pleads his cause first
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seems right, until another comes
and questions him.
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The lot settles disputes and
keeps strong ones apart.
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A brother offended is more
difficult than a fortified city.
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Disputes are like the bars of a
fortress.
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First Samuel Chapter 26 World
English Bible The Ziphytes came
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to Saul to Jiba, saying, doesn’t
David hide himself in the hill
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of Hakala, which is before the
desert?
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Then Saul arose and went down to
the wilderness of Ziff, having
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3000 chosen men of Israel with
him to seek David in the
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wilderness of Ziff.
Saul encamped in the hill of
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Hakala, which is before the
desert by the way.
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But David stayed in the
wilderness, and he saw that Saul
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came after him into the
wilderness.
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David therefore sent out spies
and understood that Saul had
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certainly come.
Then David arose and came to the
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place where Saul had encamped.
And David saw the place where
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Saul lay with Abner, the son of
Nur, the captain of his army.
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Saul Lay.
Within the place of the wagons.
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And the people were encamped
around him.
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Then David answered and said to
Aheim Letch the Hittite, and to
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Abishai the son of Zeruiah,
brother of Joab, saying, Who
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will go down with me to Saul to
the camp?
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Abishai said, I will go down
with you.
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So David and Abishai came to the
people by night, and behold,
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Saul lay sleeping within.
The place of the wagons.
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With his spear stuck in the
ground at his head, and Abner
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and the people lay around him.
Then Abishai said to David, God
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has delivered up your enemy into
your hand today.
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Now therefore please let me
strike him with the spear to the
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earth at one stroke, and I will
not strike him the second time.
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David said to Abishai, don’t
destroy him, for who can stretch
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out his hand against Yahweh’s
anointed and be guiltless?
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David said, as Yahweh lives,
Yahweh will strike him, or his
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day shall come to die, or he
shall go down into battle and
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perish.
Yahweh forbid that I should
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stretch out my hand against
Yahweh’s anointed, but now
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please take the spear that is at
his head and the jar of water,
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and let’s go.
So David took the spear and the
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jar of water from Saul’s head,
and they went away, and no man
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saw it or knew it, nor did any
awake, for they were all asleep,
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because a deep sleep from Yahweh
had fallen on them.
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Then David went over to the
other side and stood on the top
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of the mountain afar off, a
great space being between them.
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And David cried to the people
and to Abnur the son of Nur,
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saying, Don’t you answer Abnur?
Then Abnur answered, Who are you
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who cries to the king?
David said to Abnur, Aren’t you
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a man who is like you in Israel?
Why then have you not kept watch
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over your Lord the King?
For one of the people came in to
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destroy the king, your Lord.
This thing isn’t good that you
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have done.
As Yahweh lives.
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You are worthy to die because
you have not kept watch over
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your Lord Yahweh’s anointed.
Now see where the King’s spear
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is, and the jar of water that
was at his head.
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Saul knew David’s voice and
said, Is this your voice, my son
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David?
David said, It is my voice, my
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Lord, O king.
He said, Why does my Lord pursue
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his servant?
For what have I done?
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What evil is in my hand now?
Therefore please let my Lord the
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King hear the words of his
servant.
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If it is so that Yahweh has
stirred you up against me, let
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him accept an offering.
But if it is the children of
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men, they are cursed before
Yahweh, for they have driven me
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out today, that I shouldn’t
cling to Yahweh’s inheritance,
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saying, Go serve other gods now.
Therefore don’t let my blood
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fall to the earth, away from the
presence of Yahweh.
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For the king of Israel has come
out to seek a flea, as when 1
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hunts a Partridge in the
mountains.
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Then Saul said, I have sinned,
return my son David, for I will
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no more do you harm, because my
life was precious in your eyes
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today.
Behold, I have played the fool
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and have erred exceedingly.
David answered.
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Behold the spear, O king.
Then let one of the young men
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come over and get it.
Yahweh will render to every man
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his righteousness and his
faithfulness, because Yahweh
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delivered you into my hand
today, and I wouldn’t stretch
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out my hand against Yahweh’s
anointed.
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Behold, as your life was
respected today in my eyes, so
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let my life be respected in
Yahweh’s eyes and let him
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deliver me out of all
oppression.
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Then Saul said to David, You are
blessed, my son David.
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You will both do mightily and
will surely prevail.
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So David went his way and Saul
returned to his place.
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Psalm chapter 63 World English
Bible God, you are my God.
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I will earnestly seek you.
My soul thirsts for you.
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My flesh longs for you in a dry
and weary land where there is no
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water.
So I have seen you in the
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sanctuary, watching your power
and your glory, because your
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loving kindness is better than
life.
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My lips shall praise you so I
will bless you while I live.
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I will lift up my hands in your
name.
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My soul shall be satisfied as
with the richest food.
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My mouth shall praise you with
joyful lips when I remember you
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on my bed and think about you in
the night.
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Watches for you have been my
help.
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I will rejoice in the shadow of
your wings.
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My soul stays close to you.
Your right hand holds me up.
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But those who seek my soul to
destroy it shall go into the
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lower parts of the earth.
They shall be given over to the
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power of the sword.
They shall be Jackal food.
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But the king shall rejoice in
God.
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Everyone who swears by him will
praise him, for the mouth of
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those who speak lies shall be
silenced.
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Thanks for joining us on Bible
Chat, where Scripture meets
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everyday life.
If today’s devotional encouraged
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you, share it with a friend and
be sure to follow the podcast so
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you won’t miss the next
conversation.
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Until next time, stay rooted in
truth, anchored in hope, and
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walking daily with Jesus.

