Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / November 7, 2026 - 1 Samuel 31 & Proverbs 24:1-17

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November 7, 2026 - 1 Samuel 31 & Proverbs 24:1-17 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, with God's word letting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Josiah Smith, joined by Tyler Sanborn.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Today is Saturday, November 7th, 2026.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: 1 Samuel 31.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboah.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malkishua, the sons of Saul.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Then Saul said to his armor bearer, Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and mistreat me.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: But his armor bearer would not, for he feared greatly.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: And when his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor bearer and all his men on the same day together.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: And the Philistines came and lived in them.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboah.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: But when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and went all night and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there, and they took their bones and buried them under the Tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs twenty-four, verses one through seventeen.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Wisdom is too high for a fool.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: In the gate he does not open his mouth.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Rescue those who are being taken away to death.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you say, Behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the hearts perceive it?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And will he not repay man according to his work?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Know that wisdom is such to your soul.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you find it, there will be a future, and if and your hope will not be cut off.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do no violence to his home.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: For the righteous fall seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Tyler, we are at the end of 1 Samuel 31.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, of course, historically, first and second Samuel were one literary book, but just in terms of the division that we have in our English Bibles, we have 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we are finishing up 1 Samuel 31 and really the whole book of 1 Samuel.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so, as is our custom, we want to think back over what it is that we've read so far and just reflect on some of the lessons that we've learned, some of the things that we've seen, and uh some of the even ways that we've been pointed to to trust in the Lord to see his character and and uh things of that nature.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, Tyler, we'll start with you.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, as you think about first Samuel, uh, and you did a lot of first Samuel because I was traveling and and things like that.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: So you spent a lot of time just kind of unpacking and reading and wrestling with first Samuel.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: What were some things that you were encouraged by?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: What some what are some things that that kind of stick out to you, top of mind, from from what we've read so far?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm thinking about the relationships um between David, David and Saul, David and Samuel, and and the ways that God is uh is faithful to his word when when God is leading and guiding, telling telling David as he goes to seek him, uh the relationship with David and and the Lord uh and just watching his the ways that he uh is is faithfully following and and depending on the Lord in those times, the the highs and lows when David is not, and he's he's going about uh making decisions with his own insights and his own understanding, and we just see kind of the the the wins and losses, if you will, of David, the column there, and we kind of see as David seeks after him and seeks after the Lord, he's he's he's never disappointed, he's never making missteps, his feet are sure, um, and and he's he has victory.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I I think about just the ways that Saul is not in contrast, is not depending, not seeking the Lord, uh working in his own strength, his own might, and his own understanding, and and that's just an encouragement to me just to continue to go to the Lord to seek his his wisdom, his insights, his leading, his um, and to to help me.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: I I I just oftentimes just forget to do that in in my day-to-day things, whether it's a meeting or uh a task that's that's seemingly um overwhelming at first, like how how can I do this?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I've got to stop and ask the Lord for help.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Those are those are this couple things top of mind that that I'm thinking about, the relationships of even Samuel with David.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's not not a whole lot that is spoken negatively of Samuel.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's a faithful man.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: He's a he's a man that speaks on behalf of the Lord without fear.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And and the the people that we we emulate, I'm thinking about this past week in life groups, the people that we look to to emulate a life that pursues Christ.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: We look at people that have faithfully done that.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: We see that across the scriptures.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: We see faithful men that do make mistakes, faithful women that do fall short.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but nonetheless, we look, we look to them as an encouragement and just kind of take some notes out of their other out of their lives, the the concerns and the warnings that we can see, the the pitfalls that they fell into and and how God was faithful to get them and back on track and continue to lead them.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um just kind of see the trajectory of their lives, and that that's been a bit of uh encouragement to me.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was really one of my big takeaways.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: If you think about David and Saul and how they're contrasted in First Samuel, the word this is gonna sound silly, but I think it'll make sense as I unpack it.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: The word to summarize first Samuel that comes to my mind is yo-yo, like a yo-yo, right?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Where we have David, who in a lot of ways, like you like you were just saying, he he himself is a kind of yo-yo, and uh Saul as well, going back and forth, up and down, up and down, but they're doing it in different directions.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: David, he's his sort of, at least in the book, right, is his default is trusting in the Lord.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't say default as if as if that's just natural to him, but I mean the way it's being showcased in 1 Samuel is that typically he is trusting in the Lord, he's trying to, you know, live a life that honors the Lord, is seeking him in prayer, and then yo-yos uh to things that are sinful, and then kind of goes back to uh, you know, the the more um you know consistent character of David that perhaps we we know and that we'll continue to see.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Saul is the opposite, where he almost is like his default is wickedness, and he yo-yos towards seeming repentance, right?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Where he feels bad and he apologizes to David, and it seems like things are going in the right direction, and then he just goes right back to uh his own pride and and selfishness and arrogance and and envy of David.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's these yo-yos where they're kind of going in opposite directions, right?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Where the text is displaying David, yeah, he's got things that he does that are wrong, and uh he he he takes lives that um you know and lies about it to Achish and does does things that uh you know aren't honoring to the Lord.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: But then we also see kind of in the next chapters, even going back and forth, he's trusting the Lord, he's praying, he's asking for direction.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh whereas Saul, you know, like I said, he he seems to have these moments of of doing things that feel righteous, but ultimately he goes back to doing things that ultimately are sinful.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And as a result, here in 1 Samuel 31, what we're seeing, and anytime, by the way, just as a biblical kind of interpretive principle, anytime you see a foreign nation occupying Israel territory, that is divine judgment, right?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so Saul and his leadership and just the the wickedness and you know the the way that he has been ruling as king has led to kind of a downward spiral that in some ways is reminiscent of the book of Judges.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: And and here we see ultimately his destruction and uh the Philistines kind of taking over, and we've seen even kind of a yo-yo there where Israel's had victory over the Philistines, specifically under David, and now the Philistines are having victory over Israel, specifically under Saul.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and so that's just even the back and forth, the back and forth, the the yo-yo.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: And here in 1 Samuel 31, you know, Saul falls, and it's it's a it's a brutal way to go.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, the Philistines are are uh you know desecrating his his body and um are treating it poorly and displaying him and things like that.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just it's a hard scene to be honest.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: And what it feels like that is is sort of like it's uh like if you were watching a movie and there was part one, part two, this feels like the end of part one where you're kind of left with uh a cliffhanger, right?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're left with just the tension uh to wait to see how it's resolved.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what we see in 2 Samuel that we'll continue to read.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And Tyler, you'll open us up in 2 Samuel.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but part two is coming, and uh David, King David is is coming.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but but right now what we're seeing is uh you know Israel uh has kind of fallen to the hands of the Philistines, or at least parts of their territories and they're occupying them, and they have fled for their lives.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: And and Saul, of course, is and his sons.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh, even the text, the way it describes it, Saul, his sons, his armor-bearer, I mean, it's like uh making the point of like Saul has fallen.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and you can kind of trace that again to to the yo-yo of his wickedness, that he never really seems to fully um conquer.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's what we see here in 1 Samuel.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And in 2 Samuel, we're gonna see David uh step into power and and hopefully turn some things around.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll get to we'll get to part two uh of the movie.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: But here we we have this cliffhanging and ending, and uh that's what 1 Samuel 31 kind of reads to me uh as.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we're taking a much larger chunk of scripture in our wisdom literature today.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: We open Psalm, uh we open Proverbs chapter 24.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna take the first half of it, the first 17 verses, and we see uh some some themes of uh of knowledge being related to to honey.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we see the the the themes of of evil and scheming and plans and how that reveals the heart of man.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we we're also gonna see just the the wisdom as the common theme is here, uh, what wisdom has to do with everyday living.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that stands out to me today is the honey, the the tangible things that we can enjoy and taste and make a connection to um through consumption and as we consume and and seek to consume what it is that we're putting into our bodies, whether it's wisdom as we're reading or meditating on God's word, or uh just the sweetness of uh a pleasurable common grace from the Lord, uh um an old testament candy, if you will, that's the satisfying and a gift from God.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: We see this uh this connection, and I wrote my in the margin of my Bible, my Bibles, honey is to the outer man as wisdom is to the inner man.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the the the connection here is how sweet it is, how rich and satisfying it is as we look to verses 13 and 14.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: This this wisdom that is being compared to honey, this encouragement to go and eat it, go after it.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's good for you.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: The drippings of the honey honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: And how much better is that?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: How much um how much more satisfying and long-lasting uh the effects of wisdom uh as it plays out in your life, where there's a temporary pleasure and a satisfaction with things that we eat, uh whether it's honey or whether it's um uh a nice steak or something that is just so complex in flavor, and the way that God has just designed food to be so satisfying to us, uh, wisdom is that for our inner man, for our soul, um, that that which doesn't that doesn't fade, that that doesn't, that our souls are eternal.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we we find that we have in it, in this wisdom, we find that there's a future, there's a hope and and uh an everlasting nature of this wisdom that won't be cut off.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And we got to continue to just hide this.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna uh it's gonna prolong our days, and and we need uh to take action.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 14, we need to go and pursue it, go after it.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you find it, if you're playing hide and seek, if you're if you're the one that's seeking, you have to go and pursue.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: We have to go and find it.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: We got to go mine uh the chapters and the verses and in scripture and and go after it.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a it's an ongoing pursuit every day uh till the day that we die or that Christ calls us home.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I was just encouraged by that today.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's a it's a required pursuit to go after it and just the satisfaction that comes with pursuing it.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and if I could just connect what we just read in 1 Samuel 31 and Proverbs 24 here, verse 16, the righteous falls seven times and rises again.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that makes me think of David, like the yo-yo, right?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Where he does, you know, he he he does some things that are sinful.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: He falls, if you want to use that language here of Proverbs 24, 16, but but he rises again, not because of his own strength, not because um of you know anything within him, but because of of God that sustains him and provides the mercy and the grace and the forgiveness and and things like that.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so uh, like you were saying earlier, Tyler, yeah, David is an example of someone who's uh stumbles, someone who uh does things that that are wrong, that are sinful, uh, that we could even categorize as evil, but nevertheless embraces the forgiveness of the Lord, seeks forgiveness of the Lord, um, and is able to walk forward.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: And though he might fall seven times, as we see here, he rises again.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: But the wicked, on the other hand, and we can see Saul paralleled on this, stumbles in times of calamity.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the the language here is kind of there's a finality to the stumbling where you're not getting up again.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, we see that with Saul, where he takes his own life and and then he he's he's literally displayed as a kind of trophy, and and his body is burned, and I mean just lots of things there where I think Proverbs 24, 16 shows us the reality of the juxtaposition between David and Saul and the yo-yo of um both of them in their own ways, the righteous falling seven times and rising again, but the wicked stumbling in times of of calamity.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we just need to make sure that we are, of course, as as as Christians that we're just clinging to clinging to Christ, that that we are uh just quick to remember the promise of 1 John 1 9, that if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And even here, the promise of, yeah, we're gonna fall, we're gonna, we're gonna sin, we're gonna uh give into temptation.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but the Lord is faithful and uh by his spirit we are able to get up.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: Not not in our own strength, not because we're just gritten through it, but because of the mercy and the grace that's available to us uh and uh we're pointed to in his word.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what we want to see uh in our lives as Christians.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bob Reading Podcast.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compass bible sv dot org.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.