Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Feb 18, 2026, 1:59 PM
Passage Read: 2 Samuel 6-9
Meditation Verses: 6:21-22
Thought
David didn't think of the people around him and what they thought of him as he worshiped the Lord. David thought of the Lord and all He meant to him and all He'd done for him. David worshiped the Lord alone; he wasn't putting on a show for the people to see and judge him. He didn't care what the people thought; he was fixed on God.
Feb 17, 2026, 10:05 AM
Passage Read: 2 Samuel 2-5
Meditation Verses: 3:9-10
Thought
Abner knew what the Lord intended, but he made Ish-bosheth king anyway. His decision, with the support of the other tribes of Israel, brought much suffering to the nation, to Joab and his family, and ultimately the death of Saul's son. He knew what God wanted but went against it anyway.
Feb 16, 2026, 9:23 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 29 - 2 Samuel 1
Meditation Verses: 1 Samuel 30:1-2
Thought
God allowed their homes and their city to be destroyed, but preserved their families and their material treasures as spoils taken by the Amalekites. Of course, they were devastated when they returned to find everything destroyed and their families taken captive. But God allowed them to rescue their families and capture all the spoils, their own goods and those of others that the Amalekites had taken.
Feb 15, 2026, 8:58 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 25-28
Meditation Verse: 25:25
Thought
Everyone knew that Nabal was a worthless man and was impossible to speak to. They freely spoke of him this way to each other and to those who suffered at his hand! No one felt shame or guilt, and others were not offended to hear them speak thus of their master and husband! Shouldn't they have been convicted of speaking evil of him?
Feb 14, 2026, 9:43 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 21-24
Meditation Verses: 24:10-12
Thought
David took this opportunity to confront Saul, albeit humbly, about his unjust pursuit of David. He could have remained quiet in the cave and let Saul go off with his men, then slip away. But instead, he saw the chance to prove his innocence to Saul. It wasn't a plea to be welcomed back into Saul's graces and be allowed to return home.
Feb 13, 2026, 9:16 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 17-20
Meditation Verses: 19:4-5
Thought
All this time, David was thinking only of serving the Lord and Saul, but because the Spirit of the Lord had withdrawn from Saul and an evil spirit come on him, Saul was given over to his jealousy and grew to hate David. It didn't matter how much David benefited Saul and Israel, all Saul saw was a threat to his reign.
Feb 12, 2026, 9:06 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 13-16
Meditation Verse: 16:1
Thought
How did the Lord intend to transfer power from Saul to David? Did He expect all Israel to naturally turn to David, now that he was anointed king? That didn't happen. Did He expect all Israel to remember and accept David as king when Saul died? There was the possibility of that, since Jonathan, Saul's son recognized David as the next king; he would have given the kingdom over to David.
Feb 11, 2026, 6:50 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 9-12
Meditation Verse: 9:16
Thought
The Lord promised Samuel to send Saul to him by the next day. How did He do that? He caused Kish's donkeys to wander off, so that Kish sent Saul with a servant to look for them. After three days of searching and not finding, they ended up near Samuel's home. Saul was ready to give up and go home, but his servant suggested they ask the seer who lived in that town, and Saul agreed.
Feb 10, 2026, 8:55 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 5-8
Meditation Verses: 8:18-20
Thought
Granting the people a king, as they ask, is a punishment that He intended to turn to good. They reject God as king, but God will one day be king, in the promised Messiah. But first they will experience what it is to have a king who is not God and who does not walk in God's ways.
Feb 9, 2026, 6:49 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 1-4
Meditation Verse: 2:30
Thought
God is speaking to Eli and about his sons, men who are supposed to know the Lord and live in fear and honor of Him. Because they do as they please instead of as the Lord instructed, they are men who despise Him, standing in the place of those who should honor Him most.