Let's look for hidden pearls (10 mins.)
1Sa 23:16, 17. How can we imitate Jonathan? (w17.11 27 ¶11).
To prevent envy from taking root within us, we must try to see things as Jehovah sees them. We must understand that our brothers are members of the same body, which is the congregation. This will help us show empathy, in harmony with these words: "If one member is glorified, all the other members rejoice with him." Thus, instead of feeling jealous, we will be glad that others receive blessings. So if someone less than us receives a privilege, we will not feel envy or jealousy.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Jonathan was not jealous because Jehovah did not choose him to be the next king of Israel, but chose David, instead of being angry with David and showing envy, Jonathan showed David love and kindness, and encouraged him and support, to prevent envy from taking root within us, we must try to see things as Jehovah sees them.
Well, in the case of Jonathan, he did not feel jealous because Jehovah did not choose him to be the next king and what is more, he showed his total support to David, so we can imitate him if we understand that we are all members of the same body, for Therefore, instead of feeling jealous when someone receives some privilege, we should rejoice and show our love and support.
It will be more difficult for us to feel jealous if we cultivate love and kindness in our hearts. The Bible reminds us that love is long-suffering, kind, and not jealous. Jonathan was not jealous because Jehovah did not choose him to be the next king, but David. On the contrary, Jonathan showed David love and kindness, and gave him encouragement and support.
Jonathan was a humble man, as he was able to attack David when he saw him alone and keep the entire kingdom of Israel, all the privileges, renown and prominence. However, he himself says that he would be the second, after David. This world teaches us that we must be the first in everything. The Bible teaches us to be second, because that is what pleases Jehovah, that we be humble.
What spiritual gems have you found about Jehovah, the ministry, and other topics in this week's Bible reading?
1 Samuel 23:1-5. David was a wise person because when he heard that the Philistines were attacking, he consulted Jehovah what he should do, but later his men told him not to go fight for fear of the Philistines, so he consulted Jehovah again and assured him that he would come out victorious in that fight, that shows that David listened to the opinions of others, but the most important thing was that he trusted Jehovah when making important decisions.
1 Samuel 23:2. David consulted Jehovah if he should go or not, he did this before making a decision, without a doubt, this is an example for us to take Jehovah into account before making our decisions, it is true that we do not cast lots, nor Urim nor Thummim, but we have the Bible and our mature brothers who can advise us, guide us, we do well to take God into account in decisions that are apparently personal such as clothing, entertainment, friendships, the choice of a spouse, employment , we will receive many blessings as Proverbs 3:5,6 says.
1 Samuel 23:2. It says that David consulted Jehovah before doing anything. This undoubtedly teaches us that before making any decision regarding any aspect of our lives, we should ask Jehovah for guidance in prayer and thus we will make better decisions.
1 Samuel 23:4. Jehovah teaches me that he is a very patient God, since despite the fact that he had already told David to go and fight against the Philistines, he consulted him again on the same subject and Jehovah, instead of getting angry, confirmed him again that he was going to deliver the Philistines into their hands.
1 Samuel 23:9,10. It is quite possible that the ephod that Abiathar the priest took from Nob's sanctuary to David's camp was that of the high priest, since Doeg had killed both Abiathar's father, the high priest Ahimelech, and the underpriests who were with him. Furthermore, David had Abiathar bring him this ephod to inquire of Jehovah what kind of action to undertake.
1 Samuel 23:9,11. The ephod was a special upper garment worn by the high priest and on the front of which was mounted the judgment breastplate adorned with said precious stones containing the Urim and Thummim, or sacred lots. It is possible that these stones as they remained on the surface that were thrown meant a yes or no.
1 Samuel 23:12. This teaches us that we shouldn't be surprised when the humans we help betray us. In the case of David this story teaches us this, however, helping them even knowing that, is pleasing to Jehovah, because we are not serving to have friends, but to please Jehovah.
1 Samuel 23:14. It makes me think that today we have many enemies who persecute us, just like what happened to David, but without a doubt if we take refuge in Jehovah nothing will happen to us because he will protect us.
1 Samuel 23:16. It teaches us that we must always be aware of our brothers in the faith, since in one way or another we all go through problems today, but if we strengthen each other, without a doubt our burdens will become lighter.
1 Samuel 23:17. It is significant that Jonathan's friendship and affection was sincere towards David, there was no jealousy or envy, or hypocrisy, sometimes there are people who secretly envy others, and when these others receive some privilege, some secular job, or some success, some hate them out of envy, instead of rejoicing for their friend, and fall into the sin of gossip, slander, envy, if we have felt that we must ask Jehovah to help us change, to be humble of heart and surely he will bless us in due time.
1 Samuel 23:17. We see Jonathan's reaction when it was obvious that Jehovah's blessing was on David, he did not feel jealousy or envy, because he was a humble person which teaches us the importance of humility, in addition to the fact that this quality proves our faith and it leads to a good relationship with Jehovah God and with our fellow believers.
1 Samuel 23:17. Jonathan's attitude was genuine, he was born from a humble heart, from someone who was aware of Jehovah's will and was a faithful supporter of said arrangements. His humility led him to recognize that he would occupy a subordinate position but within a divine arrangement to which he wanted to continue belonging.
1 Samuel 23:21. Although Saul was the villain of the story, from his perspective he was the victim. He even uses Jehovah's name to lie and murder David. When we have a problem with someone else, let's think, let's evaluate with the Bible in hand if we are the villains or we victimize ourselves like Saul.
1 Samuel 23:27,28. It shows us that out of envy, King Saul tried to kill David, who also worshiped Jehovah, when his true enemies were the Philistines, this makes me think what would happen if we see that a brother is superior to us in many aspects, would we be like Saul and attack him with critical comments, or accept the fact that there will always be someone who does some things better than us? Therefore, focusing on the imperfections of others can confuse us about who our real enemy is, which in this case is Satan, the devil.
1 Samuel 23:24,28. When Saul learned of Davis's location, Davis no doubt proceeded to follow him, however, David was more cunning and hid in different places to confuse the king and when Saul found out that the Philistines had returned Saul left After pursuing David and going to fight against the Philistines, without a doubt David's way of acting is a demonstration of his astuteness and experience as a soldier.
1 Samuel 24: 1-5. Although the word conscience does not appear in this story, without a doubt the pain that David felt was nothing other than the effect of his own conscience. In the same way, we all have a guilty conscience at times. We act in a certain way and later feel restless and worried. Therefore, when one works in harmony with his awareness, he feels peace and satisfaction.
1 Samuel 24:3,6. We see that David also had opportunities to kill Saul, however, he did not do it because he was Jehovah's anointed, but he let Jehovah judge him, so he did not speak ill of him or treat him with disrespect, this tells us teaches that we should always honor the God-given authority of those who take the lead in the congregation, regardless of their imperfections.
1 Samuel 24:4. It encourages and gives us courage to remain faithful to Jehovah since just as it was done with David, evil is often plotted against faithful servants of Jehovah today. But, just as Saul failed in his efforts to ruin David, they, too, can be sure that those who seek to harm them will fail and will be ensnared in their own schemes.
1 Samuel 24:4,5. Like David, it could happen that people we know could give us good advice that seems to come from the Bible by using the name of Jehovah and some ambiguous passages. David deep down knew that this advice was not so successful. It is important that we set ourselves the goal as precursors that we receive direct advice from Jehovah by reading and studying the Bible in depth, only in this way will we ensure that the advice that someone gives us comes from the Bible and not from human interpretation.
1 Samuel 24:5. There were times when David did not listen to his conscience and disobeyed Jehovah, for example, once he did not show respect to King Saul and after that he felt so guilty that his heart condemned him, that was a sign that his conscience She was saying that she had done something wrong, if she listened to her, she would avoid falling into that mistake again, therefore, if our educated conscience tells us that we have done something wrong, we must heed it and proceed to repent of what we have done.
1 Samuel 24:5. When he was living as a fugitive, fleeing from Saul, David had an opportunity to do something disrespectful to this God-anointed king, and he did. But then "David's heart was hurting him." Although the word conscience does not appear in this account, the pain David felt was undoubtedly nothing more than the effect of his own conscience.
1 Samuel 24:5,6. David's deep respect for Yahweh's arrangement to have representatives on earth made him feel bad for just having his suit cut a bit, even though Saul had given reason to feel hatred and had lost Yahweh's protection. Yet David considered him Jehovah's anointed. We must manifest the same in each of our congregations. It is possible that from our point of view there are situations that we believe should not happen or decisions that could be different. However, recognizing that it is Jehovah who directs and allows should cause us to continue to wholeheartedly support the decisions made by the named brothers.
1 Samuel 24:6,7. We see that David had self-control, he did not return evil for evil to his enemy Saul, whom he called "Jehovah's anointed", it can be difficult for us not to return evil for evil to others, especially if we have the opportunity to do so, however , the Bible is not wrong, some people think that he believes that the advice to be peaceful and not return evil to others does not matter in our days, however, certain authorities unknowingly give credit to what the Bible says, for For example, “If selfish people try to take advantage of you, cross them off your list, but don't try to get even. When one tries to get even, he harms himself more than he harms the other subject ». Bulletin at a police station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
1 Samuel 24:8. When David came out of the cave treating Saul in a respectful way calling him "My lord the king" and when Saul looked back, David bowed his face to the ground and prostrated himself, thus showing that despite everything David still had respect for the authority, we can show respect to higher authorities, even in times of persecution.
1 Samuel 24:12. When we advise someone who has problems with another person, it is important not to take the action of a judge, nor encourage any of those involved to do so. As we see in this text, David puts Jehovah as judge, not humans. Let us strive to follow this principle in dealing with others.
1 Samuel 24:14. “Who are you running after? After a dead dog?” David asked King Saul, to show that he was insignificant and that he could not hurt Saul more than a dead dog and that he really does not want to hurt him because he still esteems him.
1 Samuel 24:15. It is notable and significant that the persecutor and enemy of David was not from the enemy nation, but rather, from his brother from the congregation, from the people, this type of persecution between brothers from the people is something recurrent in the scriptures, Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers, Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul, etc. This teaches us a valuable pearl for our lives, we should not leave Jehovah and true worship if we are victims of injustice or certain persecution from "brothers", rather, we entrust ourselves to Jehovah and trust in the words of David: « He will take notice of this matter and defend me. He will do me justice and deliver me from your hands ».
1 Samuel 24:15. It shows us that David's persecutor and enemy was not from the enemy nation, but rather, his brother from the same nation, but David remained faithful to Jehovah, he did not let this discourage him, this teaches us that we should not leave Jehovah and true worship if we are victims of injustice by brothers in the congregation, but rather let us leave everything in the hands of Jehovah.
1 Samuel 24:17. Sometimes we pay poorly to those who have been good to us, without a doubt it is vital that if we have acted like this we recognize our mistake, and not only recognize it, but take action to improve it. King Saul only recognized him but he remained determined to continue behaving like this, it was no use having recognized him, something like this could happen to any of us if we are only hearers of the word but not doers.
1 Samuel 24:19. This text teaches us that Saul understood a way of being of Jehovah. When we do not take revenge on our aggressors, when we do nothing to them, Jehovah rewards. However, using this same logic, if we take it out on them by having the opportunity as David did, that is when Jehovah will not reward us for our actions but instead could damage our relationship with him.
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