Israel’s Rejection of Christ

9 I ^(A)tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ^2 (B)that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. ³ For ^(C)I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my ^[a]countrymen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, ^(D)to whom pertain the adoption, ^(E)the glory, ^(F)the covenants, ^(G)the giving of the law, ^(H)the service of God, and ^(I)the promises; ^5 (J)of whom are the fathers and from ^(K)whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, ^(L)who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Purpose^(M)

^6 (N)But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For ^(O)they are not all Israel who are of Israel, ^7 (P)nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ^(Q)“In Isaac your seed shall be called.” ⁸ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but ^(R)the children of the promise are counted as the seed. ⁹ For this is the word of promise: ^(S)“At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁰ And not only this, but when ^(T)Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac ¹¹ (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of ^(U)Him who calls), ¹² it was said to her, ^(V)“The older shall serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(W)“Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(X)Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, ^(Y)“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For ^(Z)the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ^(AA)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” ¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He ^(AB)hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For ^(AC)who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? ^(AD)Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Does not the ^(AE)potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make ^(AF)one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

²² What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering ^(AG)the vessels of wrath ^(AH)prepared for destruction, ²³ and that He might make known ^(AI)the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had ^(AJ)prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us whom He ^(AK)called, ^(AL)not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

²⁵ As He says also in Hosea:

²⁷ Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

²⁹ And as Isaiah said before:

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to ^(A)Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, ^(B)whose son is this youth?”

And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”

⁵⁶ So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”

⁵⁷ Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul ^(C)with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

So David answered, ^(D)“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Saul Resents David

18 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, ^(E)the ^[a]soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, ^(F)and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, ^(G)and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a ^(H)covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

⁵ So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and ^[b]behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. ⁶ Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the ^[c]Philistine, that ^(I)the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. ⁷ So the women ^(J)sang as they danced, and said:

⁸ Then Saul was very angry, and the saying ^(L)displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but ^(M)the kingdom?” ⁹ So Saul ^[d]eyed David from that day forward.

¹⁰ And it happened on the next day that ^(N)the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, ^(O)and he prophesied inside the house. So David ^(P)played music with his hand, as at other times; ^(Q)but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(R)cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice.

¹² Now Saul was ^(S)afraid of David, because ^(T)the Lord was with him, but had ^(U)departed from Saul. ¹³ Therefore Saul removed him from ^[e]his presence, and made him his captain over a thousand; and ^(V)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and ^(W)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(X)all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

David Marries Michal

¹⁷ Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab; ^(Y)I will give her to you as a wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight ^(Z)the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, ^(AA)“Let my hand not be against him, but let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸ So David said to Saul, ^(AB)“Who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?” ¹⁹ But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^(AC)Adriel the ^(AD)Meholathite as a wife.

^20 (AE)Now Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. And they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. ²¹ So Saul said, “I will give her to him, that she may ^[f]be a snare to him, and that ^(AF)the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David a second time, ^(AG)“You shall be my son-in-law today.”

²² And Saul commanded his servants, “Communicate with David secretly, and say, ‘Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.’ ”

²³ So Saul’s servants spoke those words in the hearing of David. And David said, “Does it seem to you a light thing to be a king’s son-in-law, seeing I am a poor and lightly esteemed man?” ²⁴ And the servants of Saul told him, saying, ^[g]“In this manner David spoke.”

²⁵ Then Saul said, “Thus you shall say to David: ‘The king does not desire any ^(AH)dowry but one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take ^(AI)vengeance on the king’s enemies.’ ” But Saul ^(AJ)thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶ So when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to become the king’s son-in-law. Now ^(AK)the days had not expired; ²⁷ therefore David arose and went, he and ^(AL)his men, and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. And ^(AM)David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full count to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.

²⁸ Thus Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him; ²⁹ and Saul was still more afraid of David. So Saul became David’s enemy ^[h]continually. ³⁰ Then the princes of the Philistines ^(AN)went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David ^(AO)behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.

Joy in the Fellowship of God

A Psalm of David ^(A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.