May 5-9
[M] 1 Sam 26-27; 1 Chr 8; Acts 18
[T] 1 Sam 28-29; 1 Chr 9; Acts 19
[W] 1 Sam 30-31; 1 Chr 10; Acts 20
[T] 2 Sam 1-2; 1 Chr 11; Ps 96, 106; Acts 21
[F] 2 Sam 3-5; 1 Chr 12; Ps 122; Acts 22
Dwell Plan Day 91-95 | CSB | Digital PDF | Printable PDF
Notes from Jon & Chris
Monday
1 Samuel 26 | When we’re wronged, everything in us wants to fix it now—to take justice into our own hands. David had the chance to end Saul’s life, but he chose to wait on God rather than seize control. It’s hard to trust God’s timing when we’re suffering, but faith means believing that God sees and will act righteously in His perfect time. Jesus modeled this trust on the cross, refusing to call down angels or retaliate, entrusting Himself to the Father who judges justly. In Him, we learn to wait, to trust, and to let God be the one who makes all things right.
1 Samuel 27:1 | David said in his heart is not the same as David inquired of the Lord is it? What a contrast for our own hearts as well. David’s decision to live with the Philistines leads into all sorts of complicated moral and political waters. And David has a motley and bloodthirsty crew of men who he needs to constantly try to keep under control. Suddenly he’s leading on instinct? But leadership over warriors is one of David’s core competencies, honed over years in Saul’s service. So he trusts his own judgment. This is not the last time he will make this mistake. Just watch and see—but when it all falls apart, David is very quickly back to “inquiring of the Lord.” It reads like a page out of our own stories, doesn’t it? It’s easy to forget, to get distracted by all the day to day details, to focus on the mission, to raise the kids—and without even noticing it, you’ve made God irrelevant to your life. Then life comes unraveled. Money is scarce, your parents are sick, and work feels unstable—and suddenly we’re back to asking God what we should do. Learn from David! Turn it around today, and don’t be ashamed to go back to Him. I can hear David ask: what is more reliable than His mercy?
1 Samuel 27:8-12 | David’s actions in this chapter show us that even God’s chosen leaders can act out of fear, deception, and moral compromise. In trying to protect himself, David lied and committed brutal violence—choices that Scripture reports but does not praise. This reminds us that the Bible doesn’t hide the flaws of its heroes, and neither should we expect perfection from human leaders. David’s failure here points us beyond him to the one true King who never acted out of fear or deceit. Jesus faced danger and rejection too, but instead of lying or lashing out, He trusted the Father and laid down His life for His enemies. In a world full of compromised leadership, Christ alone is the King we can follow without hesitation.
Acts 18:7 | I know that this is a true story and not a sitcom, but this is hilarious. Paul gets the boot from the synagogue and so, in what seems to be an almost petty move, he plants a church next door and slowly poaches members away. I don’t know if I’m supposed to, but I love it.
Tuesday
1 Samuel 28 | This chapter is a chilling reminder that the supernatural world is real—and that trying to access it apart from God’s way leads to darkness and destruction. Saul sought guidance through a medium, violating God’s clear commands and showing how far he had drifted from the Lord. God doesn’t deny the existence of spiritual power, but He calls us to seek Him—not spirits—for wisdom and direction. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are given safe and holy access to the supernatural, not through sorcery, but through the Holy Spirit who connects us to the Father and the Son. Our connection to the unseen world should draw us into the life of the Trinity, not into the shadows of evil.
Acts 19:12 | Healing hankies?! Magic aprons?! Sometimes God’s work is weird. It just goes in directions that you don’t see coming. Some disreputable and despicable “evangelists” have tried selling these kinds of amulets for a “donation,” claiming the hanky has been imbued with spiritual power to bless. Fleecing the gullible who don’t know better, and the desperate who will try anything.
So why did these things happen in the book of Acts? Why did God use these items in this bizarre way? We can answer this through the language of chapter 19 and the continuing story about the Jewish exorcists. As the story opens in verse 11 it plainly makes the point: this is God’s extraordinary work. Paul is superfluous. Paul is not a faith healer (and notice carefully) he doesn’t charge for anything. He’s an apostle announcing the power of Christ’s resurrection, and these attendant miracles are there to prove it. It connects Paul to Christ’s ministry, where we know a woman was healed by just grabbing at the hem of His robe. It’s communicating that Paul’s power and Christ’s power are the same power.
Then our author Luke continues with a part of the fallout of these amazing cloth based miracles. The first thing someone did was try to get in on it for themselves. Seven sons of one the high priests try to use Christ’s name as their “amulet” to control evil spirits. And immediately it goes sideways and they get a real beating. What’s the point of the second part of the story? Don’t do what those “televangelists” do. They’re hawking their holy hankies to make a buck. And that’s not just weird, that’s just plain wicked. They’re just like those seven sons. In the end they will be victims of the evil kingdom they pretend to oppose.
Wednesday
1 Samuel 30. | Sometimes when we’re reading the Old Testament, we come across stories that seem to contradict each other—like when Saul devoted to destruction all the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15, but then David is fighting them again just a little while later here. This can feel confusing unless we understand how ancient writers used language. The Old Testament often employs hyperbolic or exaggerated language that was common in ancient Near Eastern warfare accounts, saying things like “all were destroyed” to describe a decisive or overwhelming victory, not necessarily total annihilation. This wasn’t deceptive; it was a culturally accepted way of emphasizing the completeness of a triumph. Modern readers tend to expect scientific precision, but ancient texts were more concerned with theological meaning and narrative impact. When we read the Bible, it’s important to interpret it within its own literary and historical context. This doesn’t make it less true; it means we must read it as it was intended, not as a modern textbook.
1 Samuel 30:11 | They found an Egyptian is just so random an event, and that’s the point. God already told David he would get back his people, He just didn’t tell him how. So bumping into this Egyptian guy isn’t outrageous luck. It’s the fulfillment of the word of God that David had just received. That itself is a great gift of grace, to see prediction and fulfillment so plainly and clearly. It also makes another thing very clear: no one can take credit for this except God. You can’t plan to meet someone randomly in the desert. In and through these events, we see how the theology of the Psalms was crafted in David’s heart. His experiences were of God’s direct sovereignty in his life, where God said it and it happened a day later. This is the God who saves his life out of the pit, and answers him in his time of need.
1 Samuel 31 | Suicide is not the unforgiveable sin. The Scriptures do not teach this, it is a human-invented theology. Having said that, the examples of suicide that we do have biblically are not good, and do absolutely nothing to encourage it. Suicide is the arc of Saul’s unbelief at its endpoint. We first met him looking for donkeys, led by his servant to find Samuel, spiritually ignorant and unaware. Unfortunately, there’s nothing innocent about spiritual ignorance. This progresses into disobedience, fear, and rejection and descends into violence, paranoia, and demonic possession. In desperation he turns to necromancy, and in his final horror, takes his own life. Take note of that arc that Saul was on. Suicide is the endpoint of a progressively growing unbelief. This sort of deathwork in the human heart is very dangerous to us. Despair and fear can lead us into desperate places, and demonic forces are actively at work to destroy us. Although it is never taught in the Scripture that taking your own life automatically damns you to hell, it is no doubt that self destruction is created and fueled and set ablaze by demonic attack. It is never God’s will for his children that we do such a thing. Identifying the spiritual demonic battle and the arc of your own unbelief—and where you are on it—are vital for living faith.
Acts 20:29-30 | Why do you think that so much of the content of the New Testament letters is about warnings of false teaching?
Thursday
2 Samuel 1:1-16 | When David heard that Saul was dead, he didn’t celebrate; he tore his clothes and wept. Even though Saul had hunted him for years, David still saw him as the Lord’s anointed and mourned his fall. The man who claimed to have killed Saul expected a reward, but David had him executed instead, showing how seriously he took God’s authority. David knew that the throne was not something to seize through violence, but something to receive in God’s timing. In a world obsessed with power and self-promotion, David’s response points us to Jesus—the true King who refused shortcuts (think about what Satan offered Him in the desert) and submitted fully to the will of the Father. His crown came not through force, but through the cross, and now He reigns with justice, humility, and grace.
2 Samuel 1:19 | This was the text for Billy Graham’s sermon at Nixon’s funeral.
1 Chronicles 11:26 | The list of David’s mighty men and the descriptions of their achievements intrigued me as a twelve year old boy. They seemed like romantic heroes to me, more real than King Arthur and those legends. I knew these stories were true! But reading it as an adult, I see different things and find other joys as well. This list has so many folks in it who aren’t Israelites. It’s a bit startling. We forget that men and women could and did enter into Jewish society, culture, and religion. David’s leadership was a compelling reason to do so, especially as he lived out what he believed, living with so much courage and integrity that his men became fanatically loyal to him. What’s amazing is how much this anticipates Jesus and His kingdom. David is a mini picture of the expanding kingdom of God that Jesus initiates in His ascension. David’s mighty men and their diversity foreshadows the breadth and reach of God’s mercy and kingdom.
Friday
2 Samuel 3-4 | Ish-bosheth was Saul’s son, placed on the throne by human power after Saul’s death, but his reign was short-lived and marked by weakness and conflict. Though he ruled part of Israel, he was not God’s chosen king—David was. The struggle between Ish-bosheth and David wasn’t just political; it revealed the difference between man’s attempts to hold power and God’s plan to give it. Even in the chaos, God was moving His promise forward—establishing David’s throne, the line through which the Messiah would one day come. Jesus, the true Son of David, didn’t seize power by force, but received it by fulfilling the Father’s will and laying down His life. In a world full of ungodly leaders and fragile kingdoms, we can trust that God’s chosen King, Jesus, sits on His throne and He reigns forever.
2 Samuel 3:26–39 | The story of Abner’s death is messy, both politically and theologically. Abner had just made peace with David, helping unite the kingdom under God’s anointed king—only to be murdered by Joab in a personal act of revenge. Joab’s actions were driven by blood feud and fear, not justice or loyalty to God’s purposes. David publicly mourned Abner, distancing himself from the murder and showing that his kingdom would not be built through backroom deals or vengeance. This moment reminds us that even in God’s unfolding plan, sin and broken motives still complicate the story, but God’s purposes are never derailed. Jesus, the true and better King, builds His kingdom not through revenge, but through grace, peace, and sacrificial love. When we see the messiness around us (or even in us) we can still trust that Christ is building something better, one act of redemptive love at a time.
2 Samuel 5:13 | In this verse and the surrounding chapters, we see that David has taken multiple wives, a pattern that becomes more visible as his power grows. Though he was a man after God’s heart, David ignored God’s design for marriage laid out in Genesis: one man, one woman, in covenant faithfulness. The covenant union of one man and one woman is meant to reflect the exclusive, faithful love between Christ and His Bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:31–32). When marriage is distorted—especially through practices like polygamy—it blurs the picture of Christ’s singular devotion and the Church’s wholehearted response. God’s design for marriage isn’t just about human relationships; it’s a living symbol of the gospel, and any departure from that design weakens the witness to that greater love story.
God had even warned Israel’s kings in Deuteronomy 17:17 not to have multiple wives, because it would lead their hearts astray—and that’s exactly what happens. Throughout Scripture, polygamy always brings pain: jealousy, rivalry, fractured families, and spiritual drift. David, shaped by the culture around him, may have thought this was normal for a king. But God had already made His will clear, and David should have known better. Even faithful people can have blind spots, but God’s Word lovingly exposes them and calls us back to His better way.
1 Chronicles 12:38 | After you’ve slogged through all of these genealogies, you might be in for a bit of a shock, especially if you’ve just read through 2 Samuel. The writer of Chronicles sums up nearly six chapters of violence in 1 Samuel with only these few verses, with most of the last few chapters just describing how awesome all of David’s mighty men were. None of the awful betrayal and bitterness is mentioned here. This version is happy and triumphant. If we have a flat view of the Scripture, we might find this frustrating. A flat view says that there’s only one way to report a story, and that’s factually. But it’s foolishly simplistic to think that way. There is a time and a place and purpose for the tell-all. And there’s a time and a place and purpose for just telling the happy ending. One is more for reflection, and the other is more for encouragement. The readers of 2 Samuel were in Babylon, in exile. They wanted to know what happened to God’s promises. Were they true? The writer of 2 Samuel does the tell-all: look how messed up we’ve been from the start. We abandoned God, and the seeds of our destruction were in us from the start. The readers of 1 Chronicles are the grandkids and great-grandkids of the folks who read 2 Samuel. Babylon is gone and many Israelites are restored back to Palestine, to Jerusalem and the surrounding area. The writer of 1 Chronicles has a different audience with different needs for encouragement and warning.