May 15 (1 Samuel 15–16; Psalm 119:41–48; 2 Corinthians 7–8)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry

Episode Title: Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry
Host/Author: Crossway
Podcast Series Description: Starting January 1st, embark on a transformative journey through the ESV Bible in 365 days with bestselling author Jackie Hill Perry. Each daily episode features a reading from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Psalms, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of Scripture. Over the course of the year, listeners will traverse the entirety of the Old Testament once and revisit the New Testament and Psalms twice.

Episode Featured:

• Date: May 15, 2025
• Scripture Readings:
  • Old Testament: 1 Samuel 15–16
  • Psalm: Psalm 119:41–48
  • New Testament: 2 Corinthians 7–8

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1. Old Testament Reading: 1 Samuel 15–16

Overview:
The episode delves into the poignant narrative of King Saul's disobedience and God's subsequent rejection of his kingship, paving the way for David's anointing as Israel's future king. This passage underscores themes of obedience, divine judgment, and the importance of inner righteousness over mere outward compliance.

Key Points:

• Saul's Command and Partial Obedience ([00:01] - [03:28]):
  Samuel conveys God's directive to Saul to annihilate the Amalekites completely, leaving no spoils. Saul mobilizes a vast army to execute this command but falters by sparing King Agag and the best of the livestock.

  • Notable Quote:

    "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord." ([03:25])

• God's Rejection of Saul ([03:28] - [05:39]):
  Samuel confronts Saul about his disobedience, emphasizing that obedience takes precedence over sacrifices. Saul's attempts at repentance are met with Samuel's declaration of God's decision to reject him as king. The episode highlights Saul's internal struggle and eventual acceptance of his fate.

  • Notable Quote:

    "I have sinned. Yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel and return with me that I may bow before the Lord your God." ([03:28])

• Anointing of David ([05:39] - [07:28]):
  Samuel is instructed by God to anoint a new king from Jesse's sons. Despite initial impressions favoring Eliab, God redirects Samuel's focus to David, the youngest and least likely candidate, emphasizing that divine selection transcends human judgments.

  • Notable Quote:

    "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." ([05:39])

• Saul's Decline and David's Rise ([07:28] - [07:29]):
  The Spirit of the Lord departs from Saul, replaced by a harmful spirit that torments him. David's introduction as a skilled musician brings Saul relief, setting the stage for their complex relationship.

  • Notable Quote:

    "Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him." ([07:28])

Insights:
This segment emphasizes the critical nature of unwavering obedience to God's commands. Saul's failure to fully comply with God's instructions serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of compromise and the importance of wholehearted devotion.

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2. Psalm Reading: Psalm 119:41–48

Overview:
Psalm 119:41–48 focuses on the psalmist's deep yearning for God's steadfast love and salvation. It reflects a heart committed to God's law, expressing trust, delight, and a desire to meditate on divine statutes.

Key Points:

• Yearning for God's Love and Salvation ([08:37] - [08:54]):
  The psalmist petitions God to bestow His steadfast love and salvation, anchoring trust in God's promises rather than fleeting truths.

  • Notable Quote:

    "Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise." ([08:37])

• Commitment to God's Law ([08:54] - [09:12]):
  There is a resolute commitment to uphold God's commandments continually, expressing a willingness to proclaim His testimonies before kings without shame.

  • Notable Quote:

    "I will keep your law continually, forever and ever. And I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts." ([08:54])

Insights:
This passage underscores a profound dedication to God's teachings and an unwavering trust in His promises. It serves as a reminder of the joy and security found in adhering to divine guidance.

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3. New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 7–8

Overview:
Paul’s letters to the Corinthians address themes of repentance, comfort, generosity, and communal support. He commends the Corinthians for their godly grief leading to repentance and encourages continued generosity inspired by the Macedonian churches' example.

Key Points:

• Godly Grief and Repentance ([09:12] - [03:28 Page Missing]):
  Paul distinguishes between godly and worldly grief, highlighting that genuine sorrow for sin leads to repentance and salvation without regret. He praises the Corinthians for their earnestness in addressing wrongs and their zeal for reconciliation.

  • Notable Quote:

    "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." ([09:15])

• Encouragement to Generosity ([09:15] - [07:28 Page Missing]):
  Paul commends the Macedonian churches for their extraordinary generosity despite their severe afflictions and extreme poverty. He urges the Corinthians to emulate this example, emphasizing fairness and mutual support within the Christian community.

  • Notable Quote:

    "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." ([09:12])

• Personal Reflections and Partnerships ([07:28] - [07:29 Page Missing]):
  Paul highlights his partnership with Titus and other brothers, stressing the importance of sincerity and earnestness in ministry efforts aimed at glorifying the Lord.

  • Notable Quote:

    "For they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men." ([09:15])

Insights:
Paul's correspondence emphasizes the transformative power of authentic repentance and the vital role of generosity in fostering strong, supportive Christian communities. The Macedonian example serves as a benchmark for selfless giving motivated by genuine commitment to Christ.

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Conclusions and Reflections

This episode of "Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry" masterfully intertwines Old Testament narratives with Psalms and New Testament teachings to provide a holistic understanding of biblical themes. The readings from 1 Samuel highlight the consequences of partial obedience and the divine selection process based on the heart rather than outward appearances. Psalm 119 reinforces the importance of steadfast love and commitment to God's word, while 2 Corinthians offers practical applications of repentance and generosity within the Christian community.

Final Notable Quote:

"To obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams." – Samuel to Saul ([03:28])

Takeaway:
The episode serves as a profound reminder of the centrality of obedience, the value of inner righteousness, and the impactful nature of heartfelt generosity. It encourages listeners to reflect on their own commitments and the authenticity of their actions in alignment with God's will.

Transcript

[Samuel]

A reading from one Samuel. And Samuel said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people, Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts. I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them but. But killed both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. So Saul summoned the people and numbered them into Laum, 200,000 men on foot and 10,000 men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. Then Saul said to the Kenites, go, depart. Go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs and all that was good and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless, they devoted to destruction. The word of the Lord came to Samuel. I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, Saul came to Carmel. And behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal. And Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said to him, blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, what then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear? Saul said, they have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction. Then Samuel said to Saul, stop. I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night. And he said to him, speak. And Samuel said, though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, go devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction. To sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

[Saul]

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord.

[Samuel]

He has also rejected you from being king. Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now, therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe and it tore. And Samuel said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. And also the glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man that he should have regret. Then he said, I have sinned. Yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel and return with me that I may bow before the Lord your God. So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord. Then Samuel said, bring here to me Agag, the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, as your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel did not see Saul again until the Day of his death. But Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. And Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord and invite Jesse to the sacrifice. And I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him.

[Saul]

Whom I declare to you.

[Samuel]

Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him, trembling, and said, do you come peaceably? And he said, peaceably, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen these. Then Samuel said to Jesse, are all your sons here? And he said, there remains yet the youngest. But behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servants said to him, behold, now a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our Lord now command your servants.

[Saul]

Who are before you to seek out.

[Samuel]

A man who is skillful in playing the lyre. And when the harmful Spirit from God is upon you. He will play it, and you will be well. So Saul said to his servants, provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me. One of the young men answered, behold, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who was skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence. And the Lord is with him. Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, send me David, your son, who is with the sheep. And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David, his son, to Saul. And David came to Saul and entered his service, and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight. And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. A reading from the Book of Psalms.

[Saul]

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. Then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me. For I trust in your word and take not the word of truth utterly.

[Samuel]

Out of my mouth.

[Saul]

For my hope is in your rules. I will keep your law continually, forever and ever. And I shall walk in a wide.

[Samuel]

Place, for I have sought your precepts.

[Saul]

I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame. For I find my delight in your commandments which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love. And I will meditate on your statutes.

[Samuel]

A reading from the book of 2 Corinthians.

[Saul]

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you. I have great pride in you. I am filled with comfort in all our affliction. I am overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. Foresee what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves. What indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For whatever boast I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. And his affection for you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you. We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. And this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then, by the will of God to us. Accordingly we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything, in faith and speech and knowledge, in all earnestness and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also. I say this not as a command, but but to prove by the earnestness of others that Your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work, but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but, being himself very earnest, he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the Gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us for the glory of the Lord himself. And to show our goodwill, we take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us. For we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. And with them we are sending our brother, whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.