Growing Deeply

Sunday Sermon

a daily scripture guide

Week of June 20 June 25

Still Standing - June 19

MONDAY: 1 Samuel 17:33,38-41 Acceptance
Saul tried to make David like everyone else rather than accepting him as he was
and seeing him for who he was.
REFLECTION: Has there been a time when I tried to mold someone in my life
into something that person was not?

Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:33,38-41 (NRSV)

Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with
him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.

TUESDAY: 1 Samuel 17:33,38-41 Use what you know

David could not use the gear of the soldier. He was too small and it was too
heavy and cumbersome. We sometimes feel we have to look and act like those
around us rather than be comfortable with who we are and what we know.
CONSIDER: Consider a time when you were hesitant to use what came naturally
to you. How could the situation have been different if you had relied on what
you knew?

Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and
clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Sauls sword over the armor,
and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to
Saul, I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them. So David removed
them. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from
the wadi, and put them in his shepherds bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his
hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

WEDNESDAY: 1 Samuel 17:33,38-41 Stones and slingshots

David defeated the giant Goliath because he relied on the tools that God
provided: five smooth stones and a slingshot. Just as God provided the tools
David needed, God provides stones and slingshots in our lives when we need
them.
PRAYER: Help us, Lord, to accept ourselves for who you created us to be, use
what we know for your glory, and rely on your provision.

The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front
of him.

THURSDAY: Psalm 51:1,7-17 Mercy

David had made a terrible mistake and used his position as King in a wrongful
manner. His first request in this Psalm is for mercy, asking God to blot out his
transgressions.
REFLECTION: How does God extend mercy to us, giving us second chances in
life?

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.

My Notes:

FRIDAY: Psalm 51:1,7-17 Cleansing

David prays for a clean heart and a right spirit.
CONSIDER: Consider a time when you felt that your heart needed to be cleansed
of wrong thoughts or for wrong actions. How did you feel Gods presence?
SATURDAY: Psalm 51:1,7-17 Deliverance
David prays for deliverance from harm. We, too, feel that need for deliverance
at times.
PRAYER: We pray, Dear Lord, for mercy and forgiveness in times of weakness, for
clean hearts and minds, and from deliverance from the dangers of the world in
which we live.

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