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MORNING— The Bitter End of a Beautiful Name 🌳 “Now Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. And Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak 🌳, so he was left hanging between heaven and earth…”…

MORNING— The Cost That Remains “So Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.” One of the hardest truths Scripture teaches is this: sin can be forgiven and still carry consequences. David experienced both.God forgave him.But God also told him plainly that the sword would not depart from his house. The death of…

MORNING— When Sin is Managed, Not Confessed “But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.” David’s plan was simple: cover it up and move on. David had taken Bathsheba, another man’s wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant. Uriah, her husband, was sent to the battlefield by…

MORNING— The King Who Remembers “Then David said, ‘Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?’” In 1988, on the streets of Kampala, Uganda, a fifteen-year-old boy named Peter Mutabazi survived by remaining unseen. Known only as “Garbage Boy,” he begged, stole food, and…

MORNING— Joy Without Constraint “And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.” Recently, at a McDonald’s, I had just visited the condiment bar and was on my way back to my seat when I found my path blocked. Between me and my table stood two…

MORNING— From Anointing to Appointment “So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the Lord at Hebron; and they anointed David king over Israel.” Before we step into 2 Samuel 5, we need to snatch a breath—and catch up. David’s was not…

MORNING— Jealousy Sinks Saul “Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him; and he said, ‘They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?’ Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.” When David returns from battle,…

MORNING— When Intimidation is the Name of the Game “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” The Valley of Elah was not a narrow ravine. It was a broad canyon—likely close to a mile wide. At the bottom ran a small stream, the one where…

MORNING— The King No One Was Looking For “For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Saul’s story ends not with repentance, but with resistance. And when the kingdom is torn from him, Samuel grieves—not only over Saul, but over the leadership…

MORNING— Hearing the Bleating “But Samuel said, ‘What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, And the lowing of the oxen which I hear?’” Samuel’s question cuts through Saul’s explanations. The sound of disobedience is unmistakable. No justification can drown it out. Saul shifts blame. “The people spared the best.”He reframes motive.…