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June 28 - Wisdom in the Midst of Loss · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, June 28th.
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  Wisdom in the midst of loss. We all have those days where
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  everything falls apart at once. Plans collapse, relationship
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  strain, something you worked hard for doesn't come through.
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  And in those moments, there's a particular temptation to panic,
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  to react, to do something, anything, just to regain a sense
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  of control. And sometimes that desperate
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  reaching is what leads to the second mistake that compounds
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  the first one. David experienced this in one of
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  the most dramatic scenes in all of First Samuel.
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  In Chapter 30, he and his men returned to find their city,
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  Ziklag, burned to the ground. Their families had been taken
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  captive. The men around David were so
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  devastated. They were talking about stoning
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  him. Everything that could go wrong
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  had gone wrong. And first Samuel chapter 30
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  verse 6 says David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
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  That sentence is so short and so profound.
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  He didn't strengthen himself in his own resilience.
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  He didn't strengthen himself through motivational self talk.
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  He went to God, he turned his catastrophic moment into a
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  moment of prayer and seeking direction.
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  And from that place of spiritual grounding he received clear
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  guidance. Pursue and recover.
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  And First Samuel chapter 30, verse 19 tells us David
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  recovered all, not some of all. Proverbs.
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  Chapter 19, verses 1 and 2 frame the wisdom side of this
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  beautifully. Better is a poor person who
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  walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is
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  a fool. Desire without knowledge is not
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  good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.
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  The person who panics and rushes misses the path.
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  The person who maintains integrity even in loss stays on
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  solid ground. It's not about being perfect or
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  having it all figured out. It's about staying grounded in
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  God and choosing wisdom over impulse.
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  When everything is screaming at you to react, we all face our
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  Ziklag moments. Maybe yours isn't as dramatic.
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  Maybe it's a failed friendship, a grade that tanked your GPAA
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  family situation that feels completely out of your hands.
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  But the principle is the same. Before you react, before you
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  send the message you'll regret, before you make the desperate
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  move out of fear, strengthen yourself in God.
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  That means going to Scripture and finding the promises that
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  speak to your situation. It means prayer that isn't just
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  a quick plea, but an actual conversation where you wait long
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  enough to sense God's direction. It means calling someone wiser
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  than you and listening before you act.
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  Your recovery of relationships, of goals, of trust, of peace is
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  possible. But it starts with the same
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  place David started, not with your own strength, with his.
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  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
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  being our strength in the moments when we have none of our
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  own, when life falls apart and panic wants to take over.
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  Help us to do what David did, to strengthen ourselves in You
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  before we do anything else. Give us wisdom to act with
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  integrity, courage to pursue recovery, and faith to believe
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  that what feels lost can be restored.
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  We trust you with the broken pieces in Jesus name, Amen.
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  What if the night was never meant to be ruled by fear, but
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  covered by the presence and authority of God?
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  Command Your Night is a prophetic prayer script series
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  created for believers who want to pray with confidence before
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  sleep, stand firm in spiritual warfare and invite divine
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  covering over every hour of darkness.
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  These prayers help you quiet anxiety.
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  Guard your home, resist oppression, sanctify your
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  dreams, cover your family, and recognize sacred moments when
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  God may be calling you to intercede in the night watches.
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  From peaceful sleep to midnight breakthrough, this series gently
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  strengthens your faith and reminds you that no night season
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  is beyond God's power, protection, and voice.
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  Order now on Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org.
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  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
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  Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 19 verses one
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  to two World English Bible Better is the poor who walks in
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  his integrity than he who is perverse in his lips and is a
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  fool. It isn't good to have zeal
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  without knowledge nor being hasty with one's feet and
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  missing the way. First Samuel Chapter 30 World
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  English Bible When David and his men had come to Ziklag, on the
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  third day, the Amalkites had made a raid on the South and on
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  Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had
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  taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and
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  great. They didn't kill any, but
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  carried them off and went their way.
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  When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned
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  with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters
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  were taken captive. Then David and the people who
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  were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no
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  more power to weep. David's two wives were taken
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  captive, Ahenome the Jezreelitis, and Abigail the
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  wife of Nabal the Carmelite. David was greatly distressed,
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  for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all
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  the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his
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  daughters. But David strengthened himself
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  in Yahweh his God. David said to Abiathar the
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  priest, the son of Ahemletch, please bring the ephod here to
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  me. Abiathar brought the ephod to
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  David. David inquired of Yahweh,
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  saying, If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake them?
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  He answered him, pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and
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  will without fail recover all. So David went, he and the 600
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  men who were with him, and came to the brook Basore, where those
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  who were left behind stayed. But David pursued he and 400 men
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  for 200 stayed behind, who were so faint that they couldn't go
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  over the brook Basore. They found an Egyptian in the
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  field and brought him to David and gave him bread, and he ate,
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  and they gave him water to drink.
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  They gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of
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  raisins. When he had eaten, his spirit
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  came again to him, for he had eaten no bread and drank no
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  water for three days and three nights.
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  David asked him, To whom do you belong?
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  Where are you from? He said, I'm a young man of
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  Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me because
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  three days ago I got sick. We made a raid on the South of
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  the Cherithites and on that which belongs to Judah, and on
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  the South of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.
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  David said to him, Will you bring me down to this troop?
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  He said, Swear to me by God that you will not kill me and not
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  deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring you
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  down to this troop. When he had brought him down,
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  behold, they were spread around over all the ground, eating,
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  drinking, and dancing, because of all the great plunder that
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  they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of
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  the land of Judah. David struck them from the
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  twilight even to the evening of the next day.
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  Not a man of them escaped from there, except 400 young men who
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  rode on camels and fled. David recovered all that the
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  Amalkite had taken, and David rescued his two wives.
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  There was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great,
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  neither sons nor daughters, neither plunder nor anything
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  that they had taken. To them.
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  David brought back all David took all the flocks and the
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  herds which they drove before those other livestock and said
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  this is David's plunder. David came to the 200 men who
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  were so faint that they could not follow David, whom also they
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  had made to stay at the Brook Basore, and they went out to
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  meet David and to meet the people who were with him.
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  When David came near to the people, he greeted them.
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  Then all the wicked men and worthless fellows of those who
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  went with David answered and said, Because they didn't go
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  with us, we will not give them anything of the plunder that we
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  have recovered, except to every man, his wife and his children,
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  that he may lead them away and depart.
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  Then David said, Do not do so, my brothers, with that which
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  Yahweh has given to us, who has preserved us and delivered the
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  troop that came against us into our hand, Who will listen to you
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  in this matter? For as his share is who goes
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  down to the battle, so shall his share be, who stays with the
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  baggage they shall share alike. It was so from that day forward
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  that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this
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  day. When David came to Ziklag, he
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  sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, even to his
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  friends, saying, Behold a present for you from the plunder
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  of Yahweh's enemies. He sent it to those who were in
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  Bethel, to those who were in Ramoth of the South, to those
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  who were in Jadir, to those who were in Arawar, to those who
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  were in Siphmoth. To those who were in Eshtimoa.
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  To those who were in Rackle. To those who were in the cities
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  of the Jeremi Lights, To those who were in the cities of the
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  Kenites, to those who were in Horma, to those who were in
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  Borashen, to those who were in Athach, to those who were in
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  Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men
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  used to stay. Thanks for joining us on Bible
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  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
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  If today's devotional encouraged you, share it with a friend and
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  be sure to follow the podcast so you won't miss the next
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  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
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  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with Jesus.