Hello, and welcome to the Westside churches special Monday Morning Coffee podcast on this podcast, our preacher Mark Roberts will help you get your week started right. With look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think through it further and better work the applications into our daily lives . Mark will then look forward into this week's Bible reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And, he may have some extra bonus thoughts from time to time. So grab a cup of coffee as we start the week together on Monday Morning Coffee with Mark.

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Coffee podcast for Monday, February the 24th. I'm holding a great cup of coffee in my Texas Rangers, Cory Seger home run commemorative edition mug. This is the Homer he hit in the bottom of the ninth of game one of the World series to tie it and send the rangers on their way to their first world championship. I am drinking out that mug because baseball is back and even more today's the first day in a long time you can walk to the mailbox without being afraid. You'll be eaten by a polar bear or trip over a penguin. Life is very good, isn't it? And it's really good when we do our daily Bible reading and especially good when we think a little bit more about the sermon yesterday. Let's just do all of that. Pour that coffee, let's get ready, let's get set, let's go. So yesterday was a very difficult sermon to preach. Very difficult sermon I'm sure to hear. Nobody wants to come to church and have the preacher get onto him . And I can assure you, the preacher doesn't want to go to church with a sermon in his Bible ready to get on to everybody. That's not fun, that's not enjoyable. But as I began the sermon yesterday by noting sometimes Jesus had to confront people and say, you need to think about this. You need to give some consideration to where you are and what this is all about. And the elders asked me to take care of some of those things yesterday in regards to our 9:00 AM service. Our attendance in the 9:00 AM is just abysmal and that's gotta get fixed. And the way to get fixed is for us to value that more and to make some decisions about our schedule so that we can be there. And I hope you are already doing that and planning to be there this Sunday in the 9:00 AM Let me tie all that together by just saying this. It's important that we understand the difference in attending church and being the church. We don't go to church. I mean , okay, I use that expression. You use that expression. I know what it means, but we don't go to church. We are the church. What's the church? The church has saved people. And this is how saved people act. This is what saved people want to do. They go and worship God because their attitude is not, I'm a consumer. Their attitude is I'm a partner. I'm a partner in God's work here at West Side . I share, I serve, I give, I do. I help. I encourage and I show up because I am the church. And when the church gathers, I will be there. Hope that helps you as we continue to think about that 9:00 AM service. And I'm looking forward to seeing a full house on Sunday as we get our worship services started. Now it's time to turn our Bibles back to First Samuel. We spend some time in the Psalms. That was wonderful. But this week we will read in Samuel, find your Bible. Let's go to one Samuel. It is Monday and our reading today is First Samuel chapter 23 verses one to 14, the reading from Monday, first Samuel chapter 23, verses one to 14. It's important since we did spend last week in the Psalms to get re geared again and get figured out exactly where we are and where we are is David's being chased terribly by Saul, just everywhere he goes, Saul shows up with the army and tries to kill him. Probably more important than than just getting ahold of the storyline. And where we are in the story is understanding what's happening in terms of why Samuel is telling us this. Why is this in the book of Samuel? And the answer to that is it is a continual contrast between Saul and David. That's what's happening here. We need to see that Saul cannot be the king of God's people. He is absolutely the wrong man for the job. He's getting worse and worse by the moment. Meanwhile, David is getting better and better by the moment in today's reading. Certainly points that out. There's a couple of places that David just distinguishes himself in our reading today. So this begins with the Philistines attacking Kela and the Philistines. They're just, they're just a continual problem. So David decides to help out with that. Kela is a town about 18 miles southwest of Jerusalem and about three miles southeast of a doula . The Philistine territory is down on the coast. That's that area that is very much in dispute today where , uh, the various fighting factions and all the things that are going on there in Gaza, that's the area of the Philistine. So as you see that on the news, that's, that's where we're talking about. And so David verse two, inquires of God, that's impressive. We're asking God, what does God want us to do? What should we be doing here? And then the men are very reluctant about that. Verse three. And so David inquires of God again. Now it's very unusual to ask God twice a couple of places maybe in scripture that that occurs. Gideon ask God twice. And I wonder here if I should be critical of David. Hey, when God says go, you just go or does this honor the counsel of his men? Okay, you're not comfortable with it. Let me just make sure I got it right. I will talk to God again. You have to think about that. Think about where we are with this. But he does have the opportunity to engage with God and to ask God because Abby Ather verse six has the ephi in his hand. That may mean the rum and Theum have arrived and that he can consult God through UAM and theum . We don't know exactly how the EOD worked, how the UAM and Theum those special stones worked. But the key is David inquires of God. He depends on God. He leans on God, God, what do you want me to do? And then in kind of a really sad moment, the men of Keah God, God says, yeah, they're gonna give you up verses nine, 10 and 11. They , they are going to surrender you. And so David says, this is, this is terrible. We gotta get outta here. And it's very easy to be extremely critical of the men of Kela . David had just saved them. What are you guys thinking? But probably what they're thinking is about what happened at Knob Saul. Put that city to the sword. We have, we have hidden David here. We have given aid and comfort to Saul's enemy. Horrible things are going to happen to us. In fact, look at verse eight. Saul summoned all the people to war. Wow. Saul is really coming apart here. He brings an entire army to get after David and and his band of men. Really Saul, you're just, you're just nothing of what God wants you to be. And and maybe the highlight verse for that theme here is verse seven where Saul deludes himself into thinking that God is with him. No, God is not with him. And Saul knows better than that God is with David. And what I would say about all of this is while it is tempting to make David the hero of the story of the deliverance of the city of Keah , and then he cares about that city, he remembers what happened when he implicated knob in his escape from Saul. And so he bails out of there and and gets out of dodge so that they won't have any problems there like knob had. I just appreciate all of that on David's part. The real key is God saves David, God answers David when he, when he inquires of him. He answers him twice. He answers him then in verse nine and 10. And so God is helping David. The point here is David relies upon God. God is the hero of our reading on Monday. Monday's reading for Samuel 23 verses one to 14 . It is Tuesday and our reading for Tuesday is one Samuel chapter 23 verses 15 to 29. We're completing one Samuel 23, our reading for Samuel 23, 15 to 29. Lots of good things happening here. Lots of good things happening here. I'm really looking forward to talking about our reading tonight on Zoom. And I have something very special on Zoom tonight. So West siders , we're gonna wanna make sure that we're tuned in and ready to go tonight at seven for Zoom. I love, I think the thing that I love the most here is Jonathan , Jonathan , Saul son . Verse 16, Rosen went to David at Ho and strengthened his hand in God. The expression in encouraged or strengthened his hand. The ESV is translating that very literally. There is used for encouraging the fearful and there's an additional note there, strengthening his hand in God. That is a unique kind of expression. And so what Jonathan is doing here is asking David to consider the power and purposes of God. And he does that by saying, let's think about what God has promised. That's verse 17. Let's think about what God promised you. And he really helps David here. He shows that God is at work. Jonathan has a holy optimism about him. He encourages David to stay the fight, stay the course, keep going. This is a crucial moment for David. Really a tough time in his life. And Jonathan is there for him. Verse 18, the two of them make a covenant before the Lord. Sadly, this is the last time at least that's recorded in scripture that David and Jonathan ever see each other. Really a sad thing that Saul fouls up what is truly one of the great friendships in all of history. And more than just being buddies and laughing together and having a great time and talking sports. Jonathan and David, they help each other do what's right. That then takes us to the Zite Zite. Can I say that? Verse 19. And they're just a bunch of rats and weasels and there's no good thing to be said about them. Don't like them at all. They're ratting David out. I might , I have some notes here where I said rats attract rats and weasels attract weasels and and I think that's right about King Saul. And I think that's right about these people. These zip fights , they're terrible. And so they are the kind of people who would tell on David and would seek the opportunity to do that. 'cause that's the kind of crummy people they are. And who would you tell? You would tell another crummy person? And that's King Saul and Saul's just sure that he's not gonna miss him this time. He says he's very cunning. Verse 22, cunning is the same word that describes the devil in Genesis chapter three in verse one. And David nearly gets caught here. He nearly gets caught here. Sadly, Saul has left Israel unguarded verse 27. And the result of that is he has to break off chasing after David. Verse 28. And David gets away. But what's that about? Who's the hero of the story? Who's the hero of the story? Yes. God is the hero of the story in God's providence. Verse 27 happens which allows David to escape in verse 28. And David then goes for 29 and lives in the stronghold of in Getty . I've been very blessed Dean and I got to visit the oasis at in Getty . And tonight in Zoom I will show you some pictures of the Dead Sea desert in all this area and what this amazing place the stronghold of in Getti looks like. Looking forward to seeing you tonight on Zoom everybody. If you're not a member of the West Side Church, see you tomorrow on the podcast. Our reading for Tuesday for Samuel chapter 23 verses 15 to 29. It is Wednesday. It is Wednesday. We're reading all of one Samuel chapter 24. This is one of the most amazing chapters in all of the Bible. It begins exactly where chapter 23 left off and that is in Eng Getti . And it is a virtual mirror of chapter 26 in between 24 and 26 is the story of Neal . In all of those stories, divine providence is the major theme. God keeps David from shedding innocent blood. God is watching over. David keeps him from doing anything that would jeopardize his kingdom. We want to keep our eyes on God. God is the hero of the story. Now in chapter 24, there is a ton of talking. Almost all of the action is in the first three or four verses. Then there's just a lot of talking about what just happened and what just happened. Verse three is that Saul went into a cave to cover his feet. That is the literal Hebrew cover his feet. But that is a euphemism for using the restroom, going to the bathroom. And of course we have a million euphemisms ourselves. We understand about that. Go potty, take care of your business. On and on and on. We have all kinds of euphemisms. Cover your feet. Saul is going to go to the bathroom and the ESV says he's going to relieve himself. I think the new king James says attend to his needs. I'm not sure why we are squeamish about people in the bathroom. People in in the Old Testament going to the bathroom, people in the Old Testament, people in the New Testament have to do what people still have to do. And that is attend to their needs, cover their feet, go to the restroom. So Saul goes into the cave and you can imagine David and his man , they're in the back of the cave, they're in the darkness. Saul's eyes, all bright sun and so forth. He can't see that well in the cave. They see him silhouetted against the mouth of the cave. They know what's going on. Saul comes into the cave. He would be by himself of course, need a little privacy here and takes off his royal robe and pitches it aside. And now he's in a really awkward position from which he absolutely cannot ward off any kind of attack. And David's men say, this is it. This is it. You need to kill him. God has given him into your hands. Verse four. Maybe that's a good point to good place to make the point that just because people say it's God's will doesn't mean it's God's will. David says it's not God's will. Verse six, I can't do this. God put him here and I can't take him out. Now there's a great deal of speculation about the robe and David cutting a piece of the robe off and it certainly does remind us of the torn cloak when Saul grabs Samuel's cloak and it tore in his hand. But there's no explicit connection made there. And I'm not minded to add anything to this and say that symbolic of the kingdom and he has the royal robe. No, I think, I think David just cut a piece of the robe off because in a minute he needs to prove I could have killed you. And that is exactly what happens next. In fact, the Psalms of this time help us see that David is very concerned about verse nine listening. Saul, why do you listen to the words of the men who say David seeks your harm? I pointed that out last week that really bothers David being slandered and falsely accused. He's concerned about that. And so David shows himself to be completely loyal. He addresses Saul as my Lord. Verse eight, my father, he bows verse eight, David is not a rebel. He's not inciting some kind of resurrection, some kind of resurrection, some sort of insurrection. How about that? And he is not trying to overthrow the crown by force. Could have done it here, does not do it here. And so Saul seems to evidence real repentance in verse 20. Unfortunately, his repentance will not last very long at all. So Saul goes home. Verse 22, David and his men go back to the stronghold. They don't trust Saul, do they? And with good reason. And that takes us to First Samuel chapter 25, which we'll begin reading tomorrow. Our reading for Wednesday is First Samuel chapter 24. It is Thursday and today's reading is First Samuel chapter 25 verses one to 22 . In today's reading, we meet one of the most remarkable women in all of the Bible. Today's reading introduces us to Abigail. She is an incredible woman and God uses her in a powerful way to help David. And once again, the spotlight will be on God and what God is doing in his providence. But I think especially we'll note some things here about David's character. David can listen and he can even listen to a woman. That story begins in verse one when we were told that Samuel died. Oh , what a terrible place. This leaves Israel in, especially since the priest are dead, Samuel is the king maker. He had established the kingdom and he had made prophecies about it and help the people in so many ways. What this really means is that Saul now has no one to help him. There isn't anyone with Saul who is capable of consulting God or helping Saul in a spiritual sort of way. And I do think the key here in verse one is that that is why David Rosen went down to the wilderness of Payan that is very far south down on the Sinai Peninsula. And I think that shows David's fear. Now that Samuel's gone, any kind of restraining influence is out of the way. I need to get further away from Saul. He will track me down, nearly killed me, says he's repented, but but has he. I'm outta here. I'm just outta here. And while David is down there, he ends up encountering na ball , who is a very rich rancher. And yes, na ball's name means fool. He reminds us of Psalm 14, one, the fool has said in his heart, there he is no God. And he is exactly what his name implies because David with his mighty band, they surround and are everywhere where na ball's flocks are in his keepers of the herds and the flocks and they don't steal or raid or kill or anything. And then David sends some young men to say, Hey, we've been really kind. How about we have a little feast? You'd be nice to us and so forth. And naval verse 10 says, who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their mes . I don't know anything about you. You're some rogue. You're probably just a runaway slave. There is utter contempt here by pretending he's never heard of David. Remember people sing about David, everybody knows about David. So naval is just stingy and he's mean. And he refuses to be grateful to somebody who has helped him. And the result of that is that David is just beside himself. Verse 13, every man strap on his sword, David strapped on his sword. 400 men went up after David and 200 remained with the baggage. He has his own private army and this is not going to go well for naval. But what verse 13 does not say is David inquired of the Lord. This is nothing but rash, anger. He is tempting, he is being tempted here to be a Saul act rashly. And without thought, somebody crosses me, I'll just kill him. David crosses Saul, or at least Saul thinks so I'll just kill David. David is acting like Saul. And in the middle of that, Abigail finds out and she says, something's got to change here. Somebody has to do something. Verses 14 to 17 and verse 18, Abigail says, it's me. She made hasten took 200 loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seals of parts grain and a hundred clusters of raisins. I love raisins. They go great on breakfast cereal, 200 cakes of figs, verse 18. And she said, we're going to stop this. We're going to meet David. And what's happening here is that this woman shows wisdom and that wisdom acts. I think a lot of people, a lot of men would've just panicked and done nothing. She has a plan. She executes the plan. And her speech that she will give to David is a masterpiece of just outstanding reasoning and careful appeals to emotion. We don't get to have that speech today. We'll have to wait till Monday for that because, because our reading ends in verse 22. But we now turn to the Psalms and we'll see about Abigail on Monday. Our reading for Thursday, first Samuel chapter 25, verses one to 22. It's Friday. It is Friday. And we've reached the end of the week. And on Fridays we read from the Psalms. So now we're reading today in Psalm seven, the reading for Friday is the seventh Psalm. This is a lament, it is a cry for justice from God. However, as one scholar noted, the Psalm moves from being an intensely personal plea of a man that's being hounded and betrayed to the conviction that God is the judge of all the earth. And that wickedness is self-defeating. It ends with confidence and praise. So I think there's some movement in this psalm. I want to track that as you think about how the psalmist feels here, it begins in the heading with a ian . And then there's a reference to the words of kush. And you're thinking, what's a Chaan and who's the kush ? And the answer to both of those is we don't know. We do not know MAs scale , Shaan . Sala . There's some musical terms. That's probably what they are that we do not know for certain what they mean. Kush, we don't know who he is, but Saul has a bunch of Benjamin Mites , mites, Benjamin Mites. He is from the tribe of Benjamin and he surrounds himself with some people from Benjamin. And later in David's reign , during the rebellion that Absalom brings about and causes, there are some benjamite who show up and say, Hey David, you're a usurper. You don't even have any right to the throne. Anyway, so this is somebody who's no friend to David. And what the P song is about is that David's conscience is clear. Notice the three ifs in verses three and four, David says, I've not done wrong. And then he asked God to deal with the wrongdoers. Please notice it is okay to ask God to deal with our enemies personal revenge, not okay saying to God, this is terrible. These people are terrible. They're opposed to you. They're hostile to your ways. Can you do something about that? That's all over the Psalms. And by the way, it's in the New Testament as well. I love verse nine. Oh , let the evil of the wicked come to an end. Lemme grab some coffee here. Oh , let the evil of the wicked come to an end. And may you establish the righteous you who test the minds and hearts of righteous God . What a great verse. That's ingrained for me in my Bible and it says, God, go get 'em. But then that little bit there about testing the minds and hearts just reminds us, reminds David, God knows what I'm thinking. God knows whether I'm an enemy. It's one thing to say, get the bad guys over there. It's another thing to say, get the bad guys and test and see if I'm part of the bad guys. What a powerful thing for him to say here. So then in verse 17, the Psalm ends, oh , I should have said something about verses 14, 15 and 16. Sin just doesn't work. It just doesn't work. And that's where David is on this. I'm not gonna, per not going that way. I'm not gonna do those things. That's a fail. That's a fail. Instead, I will give thanks to the Lord. The thanks due to his righteousness for 17, sing praise to the name of the Lord the most high. That's a very unusual title for God outside the Psalms, but it is used in Genesis 1417. Go look that up and see who's talking about the Lord most high in Genesis chapter 14. Love this lament psalm that moves to a Psalm of trust. Psalm seven is the reading for Friday. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast this week. I certainly enjoy reading the Bible with you, and I hope the podcast is helping you. You're telling other people about it. You're leaving us a rating and a review. Some more people will find the podcast until Monday. Then when we'll open our Bibles together. I'm Mark Roberts and I wanna go to heaven and I want you to come too . See you Monday with a cup of coffee.

Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ Podcast. Monday morning Coffee with Mark. For more information about Westside, you can connect with us through our website, just christians.com and our Facebook page, our music is from upbeat.io. That's upbeat with two P'S U-P-P-B-E-A-T, where creators can get free music. Please share our podcast with others and we look forward to seeing you again with a cup of coffee. Of course, on next Monday.