God's Choice of Israel

9 I am a follower of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is a witness to my conscience. So I tell the truth and I am not lying when I say ² my heart is broken and I am in great sorrow. ³ I would gladly be placed under God's curse and be separated from Christ for the good of my own people. ^4 (A) They are the descendants of Israel, and they are also God's chosen people. God showed them his glory. He made agreements with them and gave them his Law. The temple is theirs and so are the promises that God made to them. ⁵ They have those famous ancestors, who were also the ancestors of the Christ.^[a] I pray that God, who rules over all, will be praised forever!^[b] Amen.

⁶ It cannot be said that God broke his promise. After all, not all of the people of Israel are the true people of God. ^7-8 (B) In fact, when God made the promise to Abraham, he meant only Abraham's descendants by his son Isaac. God was talking only about Isaac when he promised ^9 (C) Sarah, “At this time next year I will return, and you will already have a son.”

¹⁰ Don't forget what happened to the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. ^11-12 (D) Even before they were born or had done anything good or bad, the Lord told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger one. The Lord said this to show he makes his own choices and it wasn't because of anything either of them had done. ^13 (E) That's why the Scriptures say that the Lord liked Jacob more than Esau.

¹⁴ Are we saying God is unfair? Certainly not! ^15 (F) The Lord told Moses that he has pity and mercy on anyone he wants to. ¹⁶ Everything then depends on God's mercy and not on what people want or do. ^17 (G) In the Scriptures the Lord says to the king of Egypt, “I let you become king, so that I could show you my power and be praised by all people on earth.” ¹⁸ Everything depends on what God decides to do, and he can either have pity on people or make them stubborn.

God's Anger and Mercy

¹⁹ Someone may ask, “How can God blame us, if he makes us behave in the way he wants us to?” ^20 (H) But, my friend, I ask, “Who do you think you are to question God? Does the clay have the right to ask the potter why he shaped it the way he did? ^21 (I) Doesn't a potter have the right to make a fancy bowl and a plain bowl out of the same lump of clay?”

^22 (J) God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them. ²³ He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory. ²⁴ Whether Jews or Gentiles, we are those chosen ones, ^25 (K) just as the Lord says in the book of Hosea,

^27 (M) And this is what the prophet Isaiah said about the people of Israel,

^29 (N) Isaiah also said,

David Becomes One of Saul's Officers

⁵⁵ After King Saul had watched David go out to fight Goliath, Saul turned to the commander of his army and said, “Abner, who is that young man?”

“Your Majesty,” Abner answered, “I swear by your life that I don't know.”

⁵⁶ “Then find out!” Saul told him.

⁵⁷ When David came back from fighting Goliath, he was still carrying Goliath's head.

Abner took David to Saul, ⁵⁸ and Saul asked, “Who are you?”

“I am David the son of Jesse, a loyal Israelite from Bethlehem.”

18 David and Saul finished talking, and soon David and Jonathan^[a] became best friends. Jonathan thought as much of David as he did of himself. ² From that time on, Saul kept David in his service and would not let David go back to his own family.

³ Jonathan liked David so much that they promised to always be loyal friends. ⁴ Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes,^[b] his sword, his bow and arrows, and his belt.

⁵ David was a success in everything that Saul sent him to do, and Saul made him a high officer in his army. That pleased everyone, including Saul's other officers.

Saul Becomes David's Enemy

⁶ David had killed Goliath, the battle was over, and the Israelite army set out for home. As the army went along, women came out of each Israelite town to welcome King Saul. They were celebrating by singing songs and dancing to the music of tambourines and harps. ^7 (A) They sang:

⁸ This song made Saul very angry, and he thought, “They are saying that David has killed ten times more enemies than I ever did. Next they will want to make him king.” ⁹ Saul never again trusted David.

¹⁰ The next day the Lord let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a crazy man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand. ¹¹ Saul thought, “I'll pin David to the wall.” He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.

¹² Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was helping David and was no longer helping him. ¹³ Saul put David in charge of 1,000 soldiers and sent him out to fight. ¹⁴ The Lord helped David, and he and his soldiers always won their battles. ¹⁵ This made Saul even more afraid of David. ¹⁶ But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal to^[c] David, because he led the army in battle.

¹⁷ One day, Saul told David, “If you'll be brave and fight the Lord's battles for me, I'll let you marry my oldest daughter Merab.” But Saul was really thinking, “I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me.”

¹⁸ David answered, “How could I possibly marry your daughter? I'm not very important, and neither is my family.”

¹⁹ But when the time came for David to marry Saul's daughter Merab, Saul told her to marry Adriel from the town of Meholah.

²⁰ Saul had another daughter. Her name was Michal, and Saul found out that she was in love with David. This made Saul happy, ²¹ and he thought, “I'll tell David he can marry Michal, but I'll set it up so that the Philistines will kill him.” He told David, “I'm going to give you a second chance to marry one of my daughters.”

^22-23 Saul ordered his officials to speak to David in private, so they went to David and said, “Look, the king likes you, and all of his officials are loyal to you. Why not ask the king if you can marry his daughter Michal?”

“I'm not rich^[d] or famous enough to marry princess Michal!” David answered.

²⁴ The officials went back to Saul and told him exactly what David had said. ²⁵ Saul was hoping that the Philistines would kill David, and he told his officials to tell David, “The king doesn't want any silver or gold. He only wants to get even with his enemies. All you have to do is to bring back proof that you have killed 100 Philistines!”^{[e] 26} The officials told David, and David wanted to marry the princess.

King Saul had set a time limit, and before it ran out, ²⁷ David and his men left and killed 200 Philistines. David brought back the proof that Saul had demanded and showed it to him, so he could marry Michal. Saul agreed to let David marry Michal. ²⁸ King Saul knew that she loved David,^[f] and he also realized that the Lord was helping David. ²⁹ But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life.

³⁰ The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers.

(A psalm by David when he was in the desert of Judah.)

God's Love Means More than Life