OUR DAILY BREAD 19 AUGUST 2024 DEVOTIONAL, MONDAY ODB MESSAGE
Our Daily Bread 19 August 2024 Devotional TOPIC: Forest Darkroom
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: 2 Samuel 22:1-7,29-30
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BIBLE IN A YEAR: Psalms 103-104; 1 Corinthians 2
KEY VERSE: You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. 2 Samuel 22:29
TODAY’S INSIGHT
Several observations are in order regarding 2 Samuel 22. This song—that focuses on God’s strength exercised on behalf of David, Israel’s greatest king—appears in Israel’s hymnbook as Psalm 18. Metaphors depicting God as the source of David’s victories fill this song, which is framed by “bookends” (2 Samuel 22:2-4; 47-50).
The similarities between “Hannah’s Song” (1 Samuel 2:1-10) and the song in 2 Samuel 22 are noteworthy. In her commentary on the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, Mary Evans titles these sets of verses, “God the rock who is worthy of praise.” Both celebrate God’s strength to save (1 Samuel 2:1; 2 Samuel 22:4) and the exaltation of God’s anointed: “He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever” (2 Samuel 22:51; see 1 Samuel 2:10).
Our Daily Bread 19 August 2024 Devotional – MESSAGE
The army wouldn’t give Tony Vaccaro a chance as a photographer, but that didn’t stop him. Between terrifying moments of dodging artillery shells and shrapnel that seemed to rain from the trees, he took pictures anyway. Then, as his friends slept, he used their helmets to mix the chemicals to develop his film. The nighttime forest became the darkroom in which Vaccaro created a timeless record of World War II’s battle of Hürtgen Forest.
King David lived through his share of battles and dark times. Second Samuel 22 says, “The Lord delivered [David] from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul” (v. 1). David used those experiences to produce a record of God’s faithfulness. He said, “Waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me” (v. 5).
David soon pivoted from desperation to hope: “In my distress I called to the Lord,” he recalled. “From his temple he heard my voice” (v. 7). David made certain to praise God for His unfailing help. “The Lord turns my darkness into light,” he said. “With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall” (vv. 29-30).
David turned his difficulties into an opportunity to tell the world about his faithful God. We can do the same. After all, we rely on the One who turns darkness into light.
REFLECT: When have you felt most desperate? How will you tell others about God’s faithfulness to you in that moment?
PRAY: Dear God, please help me to see the many ways You protect and help me—especially when it’s darkest.
Our Daily Bread 19 August 2024 Devotional, Monday ODB Message. Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.
