For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    God will work against the proud to destroy what they try to build for themselves. Yet, He will protect the property of the powerless. Those who seek God’s favor will avoid wicked thoughts and plans, which God detests. They will keep their words pure and truthful. By doing the latter rather than the former we gain favor with God.

    We may be surrounded by thousands who are hostile to us, yet if we trust in God He will rescue us. God’s love endures forever. Let us put our trust in Him. If we are with God, what can mere mortals do to us? I will put my trust in God and thus I will not fear. I may be forced to retreat and be on the brink of death, but as long as I rely on the Lord, He will be my strength and song. He will give me victory!

    John tells here the story of Mary anointing Jesus feet with expensive perfume. John points out that Judas Iscariot’s complaint was not because he cared about the poor. Rather, Judas complained because if the perfume had been sold, he would have been able to skim some of the money off for himself. This is a reminder to us that all too often those who are making the greatest demands that we help the poor are more interested in controlling our money than they are in the poor. This story points out that there are other ways we can spend our money to serve God than giving to the poor. Let us avoid being fooled by hypocrites into giving our money to them in the name of the poor.

    David had gone over into Philistine territory to get out of Saul’s reach. While based there he had conducted raids on various non-Israelite villages, but reported to the Philistine king in whose territory he was sheltering that he had attacked Israelite villages. The Philistine king was convinced that David had made himself hated by the Israelites and invited him to join his entourage as the Philistines went to war against Saul. David agreed to join his forces. However, the other Philistine kings did not trust David and his men. They demanded that he and his men not be part of their order of battle. God’s hand was in this in two ways. First, God thus kept David from going to war against his own people. Second, when David and his men returned to their village, they discovered that it had been raided and their families taken captive. If David and his men had stayed with the Philistine army, their families and goods would have been long gone by the time they returned. Instead, they were able to overtake the raiders and rescue their families and goods. They also gathered the plunder the raiders had taken from other villages.